Psycho Storm
by may1331
Summary: The psycho rangers from PRiS come back, but they aren't the same as before. Instead, they are former rangers who must find a way to overcome their own issues. The NS rangers fight them & try to bring them back to the side of good. MMPR, IS & NS
1. Chapter 1

Here's a new story. This story is actually a request from BellaVision and I'm happy to put some of her ideas on paper (or on the web, actually).

Just a bit of back story: This is a crossover between the Ninja Storm and the MMPR season 2 rangers plus Jason. The story will be set during the Ninja Storm season and will include some other former ranger cameos. Pairs: Tommy/Kim, Aisha/Rocky, Blake/Tori.

Enjoy!

* * *

Kimberly Hart gazed in amazement at the view from her apartment window. She reluctantly shut the curtains and sat at the dining table with her closest friend in the world, Aisha Campbell.

"I am never going to get tired of that view," Kim said. "I'm so glad we moved here."

Aisha laughed, agreeing with Kim. She poured milk over her cereal. "I know exactly what you mean."

Kim and Aisha moved to Geneva earlier in the year. Following their ranger days, they had fallen out of touch, but reconnected at a chance meeting at a local Starbucks. They immediately got to talking and and Kim told Aisha that she was looking for a place because she had just accepted a job with the United Nations. Coincidentally, Aisha was currently looking for a roommate. She had moved to Geneva a few months prior to seeing Kim at Starbucks and was working with the Red Cross. The two of them missed each other and so they agreed on the spot to live with one another. Neither of them had spoken to or kept in touch with any of their old friends, something that the two of them regretted, in their own way.

Kim moved away from Angel Grove so she could train for the Pan-Global games. While she trained, she realized how cutthroat the world of professional sports is and decided that it wasn't for her. She did a lot of things that she didn't like with her life, the first of which is sending a heartbreaking letter to the only guy that she ever really loved. She's had a few boyfriends since then, but nobody ever captivated her the same way he did. And when she broke up with him, it seemed like she broke up with her other friends, too. She didn't speak to any of them and only got in touch with Aisha on a lucky whim. She missed them, all of them, and wished that she had enough guts to look for them and call them. But she would never just call one of her old friends out of the blue. Especially since she had not seen any of them in years.

Aisha unintentionally cut off all contact with her old friends. After moving to Africa, she really didn't know how to get in touch with her friends. There was too much to think about-the time difference, the rate of snail mail. She wished that the technology that they had now was readily available back then. She would've gotten in touch with everyone and tried her best to keep in contact. She didn't even know if any of her friends were still in Angel Grove. Aisha visited Angel Grove really briefly after deciding to leave Africa. She first moved back to Angel Grove, but left within two weeks after she was offered a job at the Red Cross for her work in Africa. So, instead of trying to seek out her friends, she decided to move to Geneva, where the Red Cross was headquartered. She never imagined that she would ever run in to one of her old best friends and end up living with her. But Aisha wished desperately that she would run into another certain somebody. Someone that she's known since elementary school.

"Today's your half day, right?" Kim asked as she fed herself a spoonful of cereal. "Cuz I was able to take the afternoon off so we could catch that show later."

"Yeah, it's my half day," answered Aisha. "You want to meet up for lunch first? What about that cute little bistro next to my building?"

Kim nodded. "Sounds like a plan." Her eyes widened at the sight of the time. "Oh, I'm late!" She scooped up as much cereal into her mouth that she could and put her bowl in the sink.

"Must've been all that window gazing," teased Aisha.

"Later 'Sha!" called Kim, grabbing her jacket and running out the door.

* * *

Tori Hanson slowly swam up to the shore. When she could reach the sand, she stood up and half-carried her light blue surfboard to a safe place a bit further up from the water. She bent over and shook her blonde hair free of water.

So far, it's been a great day. The sky was the clearest shade of blue, the sun was brightly shining, and the waves were great. And the best part: no sign of Lothor or any of his monsters.

A quick glance at Tori's watch told her that she still had a few hours before meeting up with the guys. She detached her ankle from her board and sat in the sun for a couple of minutes. In spite of the great day she was having, Tori couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming.

"Hey Tor!" A voice called, running up to her. Tori shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up. "You done for the day?"

Tori grinned and shook her head. "Not yet. Do you need something, Blake?"

The spiky-haired Asian took a seat next to her. He started running his hands through the sand. "Nah, I was just hoping to catch you in action for a bit."

Tori rolled her eyes. "Well, you're out of luck cuz I'm taking a break right now. What are you doing here, anyway? I would've thought you'd be down at the track with Hunter and Dustin."

Blake shrugged. "Not my thing."

"Oh yeah." Tori gave Black a disbelieving look. "Not your thing? Yeah, right."

"Okay, truth." Blake looked at Tori and smirked. "I lost a bet to Hunter and Dustin. Or as I accidently called him: Waldo. And then I lost a race to both of them."

Tori smiled. "Oh, I bet he loved that."

"Of course he did!"

Tori was silent for a bit, looking at the sky. A strange light passed over the ocean. Tori narrowed her eyes and jumped up. "Did you see that?" she asked.

Blake followed her lead and stood up, looking at the sky, also. "Nope. Didn't see anything. What was it?"

Tori furrowed her brow and bit her lip, shrugging her shoulders. "Not sure. But I knew I just had the strangest feeling today."

* * *

Jason Scott ducked to avoid a flying elbow to his face. He straightened up and threw a right hook into his opponent's jaw.

"All right," he thought to himself. "Nice and easy does it."

A couple of quick moves later and Jason's opponent was lying on the ground. The referee called time as soon as it was up and Jason was declared champion. He took a seat in his corner and doused himself with water. He waited for the crowd to subside before standing up to gather his things and put himself together.

He picked out a towel from his gym bag, splashed cold water on it, and gently rubbed it on his face. Next, he took scissors out to cut the tape that protected his hands. He eased his hand from the tape and dropped the used tape to the bottom of the ring before looking around. He saw a number of people - trainers, family, and friends of the other boxers and waited for all of them to leave. He looked around his corner and saw no one.

Jason was fine with that; in fact, he liked it better that way. Nobody was hovering over him, worrying about him. Although, it was sometimes a bit lonely. He did sometimes miss hanging out with friends and just having fun, in general. He could barely remember the days that he used to spend with his high school friends at a local youth center.

And truth be told, he kind of missed it. Not necessarily the whole giving up your life as a teenager to fight evil, but the whole friends thing. The last time Jason remembered having fun was, coincidentally, the last time he had to save the world. But what he really enjoyed was seeing his old friends and meeting new ones.

But since then, he had run far and fast from that way of life. And at the moment, he could not remember why.

* * *

"Ahh! I think you cheated!" Dustin Brooks yelled as he stopped his bike inches away from Hunter.

"I didn't cheat! You cheated!" Hunter Bradley yelled back over the cloud of brown dust surrounding them.

"One more time?"

"Race ya up to the top!"

"Sure thing!"

In another cloud of dust, they kicked their bikes into gear and raced each other to the top of the mountain. Both of them didn't notice the same streak of light in the sky that Tori noticed, miles away from them.

* * *

"Don't forget about me up here!" Adam Park yelled as he watched the people bustle busily below. He was hanging from the ceiling by a series of wires and pulleys.

Adam was in the middle of shooting a pivotal action scene against a green screen and figured that they may actually just leave him up in the air as the set broke for lunch. Maneuvering Adam into the wires had pushed filming back an hour and getting him up there took another hour.

"Don't worry, Adam!" called out one of the production assistants. "We'll have some lunch brought up to you."

Adam rolled his eyes and threw his arms to his side. There was nothing he could really do about it. After all, he was just a stuntman for the main character of the movie they were filming. Nobody important enough to be in the spotlight.

"Thanks!" Adam called down as he saw food being brought up to him by another pulley. "That didn't seem so hard," he said quietly to himself. "They couldn't just bring me down and lift me back up later?" Adam looked around again and didn't see anyone on set. He figured they were all in the lunchroom or in their trailers. "Alone again," he thought to himself.

For some reason, he thought about one incident in high school, when he had just gotten back from a family reunion and was given the honor of taking care of his family's lantern.

"Jeez, I have not thought about that in a long time," he thought to himself. Said lantern was currently hanging in his living room until such time to pass it on to the next generation of Parks.

Adam thought about how the lantern was turned into one of Lord Zedd's evil monsters and remembered the devastation he felt at losing his family's heirloom. "Way to bring up the worse of the past, Adam," he said to himself.

He knew that at the end of the day, he had learned something and felt better about losing the lantern even though he recovered it at the end. But he could not for the life of him remember what it was. Instead, the same feeling of hopelessness washed over him and stuck with him.

* * *

Shane Clarke adjusted his helmet and opened and re-closed the elbow pads he wore. He waited at the top of the ramp before jumping on his skateboard and riding down. He dodged other skaters and reached the other side in no time.

"Looking good out there, Clarke!" someone called out to him.

Shane raised a hand and grinned. "Thanks! I could be better though!" He turned away and looked back at the ramp. "No time to practice anymore."

Instead of going down the ramp again, Shane took a seat on the edge of the ramp, closer to the end. He didn't want to be in the way of the other skaters, so he tried to be out of the way as much as possible. He watched the other skaters go up and down the ramp, taking note of their moves and tendencies.

About twenty minutes later, Shane jumped up and started practicing what he had observed from the other skaters. While passing through the valley of the ramp, he happened to look up and noticed a strange light passing through the sky. Shane stopped in the middle of the ramp, still in motion and stared up at the sky.

"What the heck was that?" he asked himself.

"Move!" someone yelled at him.

Shane snapped out of his thoughts and jumped out of the wave. He used his foot to kick the skateboard up to his hand and he ran off the ramp.

* * *

Rocky DeSantos lifted a spoon to his mouth and immediately spit out what he had tasted. "What is wrong with me?" he thought. He looked over at the student next to him and asked him to taste it. He also immediately spit out Rocky's concoction into a napkin.

"I've tasted better from you, DeSantos. What's it supposed to be?"

"Chicken marsala," Rocky answered in exasperation. He took a seat at his desk and put his head in his hands. What was he thinking? What was wrong with him? He didn't like this. He used to have fun with food and enjoyed it. He knew he always loved eating. Then he found that he enjoyed cooking it even more.

But now, he wasn't enjoying anything.

His life had suddenly become a monotonous predictable routine. Wake up at 7. Breakfast at 7:30. First class at 8. Second at 9:30. Third at 11. Break till 1:15. Fourth class at 1:30. Work from 4-10. Home and asleep by midnight.

He didn't do anything anymore. He didn't want to hang out with some acquaintances from his classes because being around them brought up bad memories and feelings. Well, not necessarily bad memories and feelings, but thoughts that he did not want to live through. Honestly, they reminded Rocky of some of his old friends. And Rocky missed them, but no longer spoke to any of them. There was no big falling out, but he had been keeping his distance.

The guy sitting next to him, John, reminded Rocky of his old best friend, Adam Park. Rocky and Adam had known each other for years. They met in preschool, went to elementary school, middle school, and high school together. They'd even move to Angel Grove at the same time. But like Adam, John was quiet, but very outgoing. He also enjoyed soccer and held his family in high esteem. But what reminded Rocky of Adam most were their mannerisms. John kept to himself, but was always there to offer a friendly sarcastic comment or lighten the mood. He also seemed like he would be one of the most loyal people in the world.

Lynnette reminded Rocky of Aisha Campbell, another friend that he had known since elementary school. Like Adam, she and Rocky also went through every school year together and even moved to Angel Grove at the same time, also. Rocky wished that he had the guts to tell Aisha about how he felt for her when he last saw her. Granted the last time they had seen each other, they were turned into kids and when they retrieved the Zeo crystals, Aisha had already given hers to Tanya Sloan.

But Lynnette reminded Rocky of Aisha because of their love of animals and life, in general. Lynnette always said that if she didn't want to be a chef, she would've been a veterinarian or a doctor. Rocky once asked her why she chose to be a chef and Lynnette told him that she could not handle the sight of blood. So she decided to become a chef.

On his first day of school, Rocky was paired up with a girl named Katherine. Of course, she immediately reminded Rocky of Katherine Hillard because they even shared the same light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. This Katherine was a lot shorter than Kat, though and he soon saw that she was more like Kimberly Hart. She loved shopping, just like Kim and also competed in gymnastics when she was younger. But those weren't the only things that reminded him of Kim. She has had a gigantic heart and loved to garden. Rocky wondered if Kim was still into gymnastics, nowadays. He kept an ear out to hear her name every four years during the Olympic games, but had not heard anything since she left Angel Grove.

What first reminded Rocky of Tommy Oliver was Phil's hair. Rocky had first seen him from behind and for a split second, thought he was Tommy. When he had actually met and gotten to know Phil, he saw that the two were more alike than just the hair. If anybody needed help with anything-notes, homework, rides, or whatever-Phil was often the first to help. He was also the one that people called if they needed anything.

Brad reminded Rocky of Jason Scott. When Rocky first met Jason, they didn't get a chance to really get to know each other since a few weeks after they met, Jason was one of the chosen to go to a Peace Conference in Switzerland. He was glad that Jason came back to Angel Grove and the two of them were able to become friends. Good friends, even.

And Brad seemed just like Jason. He was big on martial arts and also big on keeping his friends close and together. He's an all-around athlete with his mannerisms being the same as Jason's, also.

They were the first and only people that Rocky had even considered becoming friends with, but once he got to know them, he backed off a bit. Hanging out with them was just a little too painful for him. He missed all of his friends and even considered reaching out to them, but had no idea where to find them. Or even if they wanted to hear from him. Rocky had heard about a red ranger mission and was hurt that he was not even asked.

* * *

Cameron Watanabe sat in front of his screen, typing away quickly. Shane stood over his shoulder and waited for answers.

"Can you get a read on what that thing was?" asked Shane. "It was odd. And weird. It didn't fit in with the rest of the sky."

"I'm not getting anything at the moment," Cam answered. "Maybe we should call the others."

"Yeah, let's do that. I wonder if they noticed anything, too."

* * *

"Why doesn't the clock ever move when I'm watching it?" thought Tommy Oliver. He sat in his class listening to his professor drone on and on about...something that he wasn't quite sure of. "I see the seconds go by, but how come the minute hand never moves?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, remembering the long hair he used to have so long ago. Tommy looked down at his notes and back up at his professor. "It's already shaping up to be a long day. I shouldn't have even come today."

Tommy started doodling absentmindedly in the margins of his notes. He knew he really should be listening and paying attention, but at the moment, the Jurassic period could not hold his attention.

And he knew why.

The night before, his parents, in the process of moving houses, sent Tommy some of his old boxes from Angel Grove. And for some reason, Tommy thought it would've been fun to go through them and take a trip down memory lane.

What a horrifying trip that was.

Before going through the box, Tommy looked back at his high school years with fond memories of having good, close friends and fighting evil monsters. Now, he was filled sadness, bitterness, anger, and regret. He was sad that he no longer spoke to or seen any of his old friends anymore. Tommy thought that after the red ranger mission, he and Jason would've at least been in touch, but there's been nothing. He hasn't even heard from Andros in a while, so the whole thing was kind of starting to feel like a wishful dream.

He was bitter because he had found an old letter, one that he wished he had lost. A letter form an ex-girlfriend, the only woman who ever stopped him in his feet. The only woman who ever challenged him, who ever made his heart beat out of his chest. He angrily thought about the cowardly way she broke up with him and the fact that she may be married with kids to this phantom letter guy.

And then Tommy felt regret. He regretted not being better at keeping in touch with his old friends and he regretted not knowing how to return to regular life after being a anger for so long. He barely knew how to make new friends and as a result, he barely had any. He regretted staying away from his old girlfriend and desperately wished that he had the guts to call her or even visit her after he got that letter. He regretted the way he treated the only girlfriend he had after the one who wrote him the letter and somehow knew that she would never speak to him again.

Most of all, he regretted that he just didn't seem to care anymore.

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

"I can't pick up what that light thing is," Cam said, vigorously typing into his computer. "I have a sneaky suspicion that Lothor has something to do with it, though."

"Of course he does," said Shane. "When is he not involved in anything?"

"What do you think we should do?" asked Tori.

Cam turned and looked at Shane, Tori, and Blake. Hunter and Dustin were still out, racing each other. Shane had called Tori and Blake and they came right away, sensing that something was a little off. Tori wasn't surprised that Shane had seen the same light thing that she saw earlier.

"We will be sure to alert you if anything is found," Sensei said. "You may leave."

"I guess let's just head to the Storm Chargers," said Shane. "We could catch up with Hunter and Dustin there." Tori and Blake nodded, following him out.

* * *

Kim and Aisha were walking down the street from the theater. After the show finished, they had gotten ice cream at a small parlor and decided to walk home since they were close by.

"And then they were talking about going to Chile to help out over there," Kim was saying. She took a small scoop of her ice cream.

Aisha was eating hers out of a cone. "Oh, that'll be cool! I've always wanted to go to Chile. My boss was saying that he might need people to go out to the Indonesia to help out with relief efforts. I'm hoping that I'm picked."

"Ooh, Indonesia!"

Aisha nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know if I'll get picked."

"Aw, you will, 'Sha. Remember when you got to go to that trip a few months ago? Where'd you go, again? Morocco?"

"Yeah, Morocco. You'd love it." Aisha raised her eyebrows. "Lots of shopping."

The two of them laughed as they headed into their apartment building. They still spoke amongst themselves as Aisha let them into their apartment. "My gosh, you scarf your ice cream down."

Aisha laughed. "You say that every time! It's not my fault that you seem to take forever and a day to finish your ice cream."

"My teeth are sensitive!"

Aisha laughed again as she threw away the remnants of her ice cream cone. She went to her room and changed her clothes while Kim headed to her own room. She set down the ice cream cup on her dresser and turned the radio up. Kim zipped down the dress she wore and changed into a set of pink shorts and put on a white vest. She looked at her hair and pulled it back from her face with a pink clip. She picked up her ice cream cup and walked out to sit in their living room. She turned on the TV and started flipping channels.

"You look fancy," Aisha said, sitting down next to Kim. She took a bite out of Kim's ice cream.

"Uh, you're welcome."

Aisha laughed. "Thanks."

"And look who's talking." Kim gestured to Aisha, who was dressed in yellow pants with a black vest. She had also pulled on a black Kangol hat, wearing the long brim to her side. They sat silently, watching an old Friends episode.

A thud came from the kitchen. Kim and Aisha looked at each other and stood up defensively. Kim reached for the remote and turned the volume up on the TV. She raised a finger to her lips and Aisha nodded.

"I told you, don't land there!" a low-pitched voice said. "You landed on my foot, you idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot, you're one!" an higher-pitched voice said.

"Shh! They might hear us!"

"You were the one who was loud first."

Kim and Aisha jumped into the kitchen. They were immediately immobilized by a weird ice-frost thing. Kim and Aisha looked at each other with worried eyes before turning their attention to the two strange-looking girls standing in their kitchen. One, the taller one, had outrageous pink hair and some sort of headdress. She had two long pink braids down to her shoulders. The other girl looked similar to the taller one, except she had dark hair and had her hair in two long locks down her shoulders. She also wore a big outrageous headdress.

The taller one with the pink hair smiled. "Look what I did, Marah. Uncle will be so proud of me."

"We did it together, Kapri," protested Marah.

Kapri looked at her sister and rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she snapped. "Let's just take our prisoners and get going."

Aisha and Kim glanced at each other, still frozen. Both had worried looks in their eyes. They had no idea what the heck was happening to them, nor did they know who these two girls were. Kim looked at Aisha and motioned with her eyes, as if she were asking Aisha if she knew what was going on. Aisha tried to shake her head, but was still frozen. She widened her eyes to get Kim to understand what she was saying. Kim tried to nod, but also couldn't move. She rolled her eyes and Aisha smiled at Kim through her eyes. "We'll get through this," Kim tried to communicate to Aisha. "We always somehow do."

"Come on, Marah!" yelled Kapri.

Marah looked at her sister standing directly next to her. "I'm right here!" she yelled back.

"We're going!" In a sudden flash of light, Kapri, Marah, Kim, and Aisha disappeared from the room.

* * *

"You guys seriously want to go camping again?" Tori asked, shaking her head. "Do you not remember what happened the last time?"

"Oh, you mean the time you blew out our generator?" teased Blake. He playfully swiped at her hair.

Tori rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry for that."

"You should come with us, Tor," said Shane.

"Mm, no thanks!" Tori held up a hand. "But I will offer to drop you guys off."

"Will you blow out our generator, too?" asked Hunter with a serious look on his face.

"No!"

"You should just stay," encouraged Blake. He nudged her. "I'd share a sleeping bag with you."

Tori looked at him, wondering if he was serious. She rolled her eyes and gently shoved him away. "I hate camping. Like I said before, I'm just going so I know where to find you if trouble comes around."

"It has been a little quiet lately," said Dustin softly. "That's a little weird, isn't it."

Tori, Shane, and Blake had filled in Dustin and Hunter with what they found. Or rather, what they saw and didn't find.

"If Cam finds something, he'll let us know," reassured Shane. "And since it has been pretty quiet, I think we should go."

"With or without your generator?" teased Tori.

"That depends. Are you going to blow it out again?"

Tori laughed. "I'm gonna be at the beach if you need me."

"Ooo-kay, water-baby."

* * *

Jason turned the knob on the shower, turning the water off. He reached for his towel and wrapped it around his waist. Jason slowly stepped out of the hot shower and he stood in front of the mirror, trying to look at himself. Shaking his head, he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out some hydrogen peroxide and a band-aid. He rubbed a circle in the midst of the fogged-up mirror and leaned in close to examine the cut beneath his eye.

"How the heck did I get that?" he thought.

Jason dabbed a bit of hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and rubbed it along the cut. He winced at the slight sensation. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, too. Jason threw away the cotton ball and carefully opened the band-aid. He placed it over the cut and headed out to his bedroom to get dressed.

He put on black sweatpants and a silver muscle shirt and opened his gym bag from his earlier match. He threw his clothes onto the floor and pulled out his water bottles, taking them to the kitchen and placing them in the sink. Jason opened his refrigerator and took out some cold pizza, eating it as he headed toward his living room to watch TV.

Jason dropped his pizza on the floor when he saw the sight of...something in his living room. "What the hell?" he said, angrily. An overweight...something was standing in his living room. He...it was green and scaly and wore some sort of weird-looking hat. It also carried a bunch of weird equipment.

"First red ranger?" it said.

"What the hell are you?" Jason took a defensive stance against it.

"I'm Choobo!" it exclaimed happily.

Jason gave it a weird look and prepared to fight against it. But before Jason could move, the thing imprisoned him within some sort of energy sphere. Jason was powerless against it and within a moment, he disappeared.

* * *

"Ow!" Kim yelled out as she was thrown into a cell. She felt Aisha being pushed into the same cell behind her.

"And stay here!" Kapri yelled at them before closing the door to the cell. She dangled the key in front of them before securing it around her neck. "Come on, Marah. We've got more work to do."

Marah stuck her tongue out at Kim and Aisha as they watched Kapri and Marah walk away. Marah had run into the wall while looking back at Kim and Aisha. She nearly fell to the ground and had to run to catch up to her sister.

"You okay, Kim?" Aisha asked. She took Kim's hand and the two of them slid to the floor.

Kim nodded. "Yeah. You?" She took her hand out of Aisha's and crossed her arms.

"Where do you think we are?"

Kim shrugged. "I never thought I'd be in this position again. Kinda brings back some old high school memories, huh?"

"Do you think high school has something to do with this?" Aisha gestured around them.

"Not necessarily high school itself. I think the extracurricular activities we did outside of school is what got us here."

Aisha nodded. "Yeah. Did you hear them? 'I captured the pink and yellow ranger!' Ugh! Makes me sick."

"Well...they're definitely not Rita and Zedd, that's for sure."

* * *

"Okay, guys. You think you got everything?" Tori asked briefly looking around before jumping into the driver's seat. "Because I'm not coming back."

"Hey, don't you still owe us-"

"No!"

Blake laughed as he jumped into the passenger's seat. "I think we have everything." He placed a hand over Tori's. She quickly moved it out from under him onto her lap. He looked at her curiously. "You sure you don't want to stay with us? At least have dinner?"

Tori rolled her eyes and smiled as she turned around and saw Hunter, Shane, and Dustin crammed into the back seat with all their things. "I'm sure, Blake." She turned to face front and turned her car on. "And no stopping for anyone. We all remember what happened last time, right?"

"Right!" the guys echoed.

Tori rolled her eyes again, smiling as she pulled onto the street. Blake had turned the radio on and Shane, Dustin, and Hunter were playfully arguing about something in the back.

"Hey, how are you?" Blake asked softly.

Tori briefly glanced at him in surprise. "I'm fine," she replied.

"You sure?" he asked, looking at her with concerned eyes. "I know Cam said he couldn't find anything and you had a weird feeling and all, but..."

Tori shrugged. "I know Cam'll find out whatever it was. But...yeah, I'm fine. I think I am."

Blake smiled at Tori. "I'm glad to hear that. You know you could talk to me about whatever, right?"

Tori furrowed her eyebrows. "Where is this coming from?"

Blake shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I'm going soft in my old age."

Tori rolled her eyes again and smiled at him.

* * *

"See you tomorrow, Adam!" someone called to him.

Adam turned toward the direction of the voice. "Yeah, tomorrow!" he called and raised a hand to wave. "Tomorrow, again and again," he said softly to himself. He walked off the studio and headed toward his car, going through all the security precautions before being allowed to leave. Adam looked at the studio in his rearview mirror as he drove away.

Something jumped on the hood of his car, causing Adam to swerve to the right. "What the hell?" he yelled. He felt something hit the back of his car and the sides. Adam also heard something on his roof. He looked around and saw creatures wearing all black with some sort of orange designs on their faces. "What are those things?" he said to himself.

Immediately, Adam pumped the gas and tried to get these things off the car. He drove faster and faster, but noticed that these things were not budging. One of them punched through the back window. "Oh, hell no!" Adam pulled off to the side and jumped out. He started fighting them, but soon saw that there were too many for him to handle on his own. "Right now would be a good time to go back in time and have some powers." He noticed that they seemed like the old putties that he used to fight. Two of them grabbed his arms and another grabbed him around the waist. Adam could no longer move. "This is not good," he said before disappearing.

* * *

Kim and Aisha jumped up as another prisoner was thrown into a cell with them.

He jumped up as soon as he hit the floor and ran to the bars as they closed. "LET ME OUT!"

Kim and Aisha looked at each other, recognizing that voice. "Jason?" Kim said, tentatively.

Jason immediately turned around with a murderous look in his eyes. "What!" he said angrily. His eyes immediately softened when he noticed Kim and Aisha. "Kimberly? Aisha?" His voice softened as well as the three of them ran to each other and hugged. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess the same thing that you are," answered Kim. "These two...girl-things were in our apartment."

"And one of them blew on us or something, but it froze us," continued Aisha. "And then we ended up here."

Jason nodded. "Some green thing picked me up in my apartment."

"Green thing?"

"Yeah, it was weird and gross and stuff, but..." Jason shrugged.

"Aisha and I think it has something to do with us being former rangers."

Jason nodded again. "Yeah. That thing asked if I was the first red ranger." He shook his head and the three of them slid to the floor. "Guess we could run as fast as we can from it, but we could never escape."

"Did you want to escape?" asked Kim.

Jason furrowed his brow and didn't answer.

* * *

"How are they doing?" Cam asked Tori.

Tori shrugged. "As far as I know, they're still out in the wilderness, watching TV."

Cam laughed. "Something they could be doing at home."

"But according to them, there's nothing like watching TV out in the open air." Tori looked over Cam's shoulder. "Nothing, yet, huh?"

Cam shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe it's actually something that we shouldn't be concerned with."

Tori furrowed her brow. "Yeah...maybe. I just...I had the strangest feeling, though."

Cam nodded. "Well, if Lothor is involved, we won't have too long to wait."

Tori nodded. "Do you think I should get the guys?"

"No, let them enjoy their...TV watching in the wilderness. If anything happens, then we could get them."

"Sure, okay."

* * *

Rocky waved to Phil and John and whistled as he headed to his car. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and dropped his bag in the back seat before opening the driver's side door. Something suddenly closed the door and he instinctively kicked. He saw a bunch of black creature things and Rocky immediately started fighting them.

Almost as suddenly as they appeared, a couple of them grabbed Rocky and disappeared.

* * *

Jason, Kim, and Aisha jumped up again, hearing footsteps heading in their direction.

"Think we should try to make a break for it?" asked Jason.

Kim shrugged. "Unless they're bringing another one of us in."

"I wonder who it could be," said Aisha.

"Stay back!" a voice said. They felt an icy frost through the air and immediately froze in place. The gate opened and another body was thrown into the cell. When they were free to move again, Kim, Aisha, and Jason ran to the body.

It groaned and Jason turned it over.

"Oh...Adam," said Aisha. "Are you okay?"

Adam groggily opened his eyes and looked around, holding his abdomen. He saw Kim, Aisha, and Jason staring down at him. "Oh, I've got to be dreaming."

"No, man, you're not," said Jason. He helped Adam move into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"

"I think so. What happened?"

"We don't know," answered Kim. "Do you think you're hurt?"

Adam shook his head. "I don't think so. Just a little sore. A couple of kicks in the stomach without the proper handling."

Kim looked at Jason with worried eyes. "Do you think they're capturing all of us?"

Jason shrugged, the murderous look back in his eyes. He looked off in the direction of where their captors had been walking in and out of. "I don't know."

* * *

Tommy jumped out of his car and dreaded walking into his house. He slowly opened the door and dropped his backpack onto the floor, rifling through the mail. He threw it on the counter and narrowed his eyes at the sight of the boxes in his living room. He saw a creased sheet of paper on his coffee table and threw the closest thing he could get his hand on at it.

The glass shattered against the table.

Tommy rolled his eyes and proceeded into his kitchen. He turned on the light and saw two girls standing there. One of them blew an icy frost, rendering Tommy completely frozen.

The two girls jumped and cheered. "Yay! We did that perfectly!" the one with pink hair cheered. "Let's go tell Uncle that we have the final piece." Tommy barely had enough time to blink as they disappeared.

* * *

"Here it comes," Jason whispered.

"Do you think this is some sick joke by Rita and Zedd or somebody?" said Aisha, sitting next to Adam.

"Can't be," said Adam. "They turned good years ago, didn't they?"

Jason held up a hand to shush them. They all backed away from the entrance, waiting for their captors to come.

"Hurry!"

The gate opened and another body was thrown into the cell.

"Oh no, Rocky!" exclaimed Aisha. She jumped up and ran to his side.

Rocky sat up. "Aisha? What are you..." He saw the others around. "Jason? Kim? Adam? What..."

"We don't know," answered Kim.

"I guess we just have to make the most of this, huh," said Adam. "How are you guys anyway? I haven't seen any of you in...how long has it been? Years?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah. I mean, Aisha and I just got back in touch."

Rocky looked at them. "None of you guys had spoken to each other?" Jason shook his head. "Really? Not even you and Kim?" Kim shook her head, as well. "Gosh, you guys were like brother and sister."

Jason and Kim looked at each other. "We were close, weren't we?" he said. Kim nodded sadly.

"We were all close," said Aisha. "What happened?"

"Life," Jason answered.

"Yeah, but...that can't be our excuse," said Kim. "I haven't seen anybody in years. Trini...Zack...Billy...and I grew up with them."

"I haven't seen them for years either," said Jason.

"Last I heard about Billy, he was living on Aquitar," said Rocky. "But that was when we still had the Zeo powers, I think. I don't know if he's back on Earth or whatever."

"So...where have you guys been?" asked Adam, with a soft voice. "I'm a stuntman and...it's actually gotten pretty boring. It was fine at first, but...I don't lately it has just not been fun anymore."

"Kim and I live in Geneva," answered Aisha. She looked at Rocky and they smiled at each other. She had missed really missed him. "She works at the United Nations and I'm at the Red Cross."

"Yeah, we met at a Starbucks while I was looking for a place to live," said Kim. "And then one thing and whatever and now we live together."

"I'm studying to be a chef," mumbled Rocky. He rubbed his shoulder and shrugged.

Jason looked at them. "I'm a boxer," he said, not offering anything else.

Kim and Aisha looked at each other with questions in their eyes, but didn't say anything. At the moment, it seemed like Adam was the friendliest, even though he didn't offer too much. Kim wondered what happened in Jason's and Rocky's lives after they had left the rangers. Kim remembered hearing that Jason returned to the team for a bit, but wasn't sure what happened after that.

"In a way, are you guys kind of...glad to be here?" she asked. They all looked at her like she was crazy. "No, no...I mean, we haven't seen each other in years and now we're all here and...now I'm kinda wondering who's the next person to be thrown in here with us, you know. Aisha's been the only one that I've seen in forever and...hopefully once we get out of this...we can all be friends again. I kinda miss you guys."

Aisha gave her a small smile. She and Kim had talked about this subject at length. She gave Kim a small nod and looked around. Rocky was staring at Aisha, with a strange look in his eyes. She gave him a smile and he looked away to the floor. Nobody responded to Kim and they were all taken aback when they heard footsteps coming down the hall again. Nobody moved as they heard the gate open and barely looked when another body was thrown in the cell.

"WHAT THE HELL? LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

They all looked up at the recognizable voice. Aisha looked worriedly at Kim, who widened her eyes.

"LET ME OUT!"

"It's useless, man," Jason said from his spot on the floor.

The familiar man turned and looked around. "Jason...what are you-And Rocky, Aisha? Adam?" His eyes settled on the last person and narrowed in anger and hurt. "Kimberly," he said angrily.

Kim looked up. "Tommy," she said coolly.

Adam looked between the two. "Awk-ward," he said softly so only Aisha, Rocky, and Kim could hear him.

Everyone felt the tension grow. Tommy went back to the bars and rattled them, yelling through the bars.

"It's useless, man," Jason repeated. "What do you think we've been doing?"

"You obviously have not been trying hard enough."

"We've tried, but feel free to keep going."

Tommy faced the bars and continued to yell.

* * *

There's that chapter. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the next chapter!

A/N: Going very AU in this story now. =)

* * *

After a number of long, fruitless hours, Tommy finally gave up yelling and reluctantly sat on the ground, away from his former teammates. Rocky, Adam, Kim, and Aisha exchanged pleasant conversation while Jason also stayed away from the rest of his old friends. The conversations were polite, although a bit fragmented as though they did not have very much to talk about. Much of the conversations were filled with bouts of awkward silence and each of the former rangers continued to look around the isolated cell.

"Well," said Aisha. "It's pretty obvious that things are a little tense right now. I think the best way we can get through this is if we do it together. And obviously, we aren't together now."

Nobody moved a muscle. Kim gave Aisha a small smile. She raised her eyebrows, as if she were saying, "Sorry."

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Aisha asked angrily. "We're all treating each other like we don't know each other. Okay, so we all kinda 'caught up' with one another and whatever, but what the hell?" She looked at Jason. "Jason? What's up?" Jason shrugged and angrily looked away. Aisha sighed and looked at Adam. "Adam?" He shrugged his shoulders and also looked away. She looked at Rocky. "Rocky. Come on." He shook his head. Aisha turned her attention to Tommy, who was sitting in one corner, glaring at everyone. "Tommy. You're obviously angry. Why? Everything seemed to be okay just a few minutes before you came and tensed everything up. Why?" she asked.

He looked at Aisha before glaring at each of his former teammates. His angry gaze settled on the smallest person in the cell. "Nothing," he growled.

"Whatever," said Kim, rolling her eyes. "You're obviously looking at me, so you've obviously got a problem with me. What is it?" She glared back at Tommy with equal ferocity in her eyes.

"Kimberly," he growled.

Everyone turned their attention to Kim. "What, so you're mad at me and just decide to be mad at all of us? What the hell, Tommy? What's your problem, anyway?"

Tommy didn't say anything as he stood up to face Kim.

"Hello?" Kim snapped at him. "What the hell is your problem?"

Tommy's eyes narrowed. "You're my problem." He stood toe-to-toe with Kim, although he looked down at her because of their height difference.

"And what exactly did _I_ do?"

"You know what you did."

"Uh, obviously, I don't. Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking you what I did."

Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Jason looked back and forth between Tommy and Kim as if they were watching a tennis match. Tommy took a step closer to Kim. "You know what you did," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"What did I do?" she asked again.

Tommy stared hard at her. He didn't answer and instead, just sat down.

"Well? What did I do, Tommy?"

He glared up at her with venom in his eyes. If he was still under Rita's spell, Kim could've sworn that his eyes flashed green. Tommy rolled his eyes and looked away, still saying nothing.

Adam glanced between the two. "Oh, come on. You're acting like a freakin' child, Tommy. If you're pissed at Kim, then why won't you just say it?" Tommy stared daggers at him, too. Adam shrugged it off. "Dude, is this about the letter she sent you in high school? You still pissed about that?"

Tommy continued to glare daggers at Adam. If looks could kill, they'd all be at Adam's funeral right now. Kim and Aisha shot each other a look. "Shut up, Adam," Tommy said quietly.

"Hey don't get mad at me cuz she broke up with you."

"Shut up, Adam," Tommy repeated. "You don't know anything about me."

Adam shrugged again. "And honestly, at the moment, I really don't care to know anything about you."

Jason laughed with a trace of mockery. "Is that what you've been up to these past few years? Pining after a high school boyfriend who broke up with you because-"

"Jason!" Kim said, sharply.

He glared at Kim and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, I'm out of it." He turned to face the bars.

Tommy glared at Jason. "What the hell?" He jumped up and faced Jason, bringing his fists up to his chest.

Jason turned and looked at Tommy in amusement. He laughed a bit. "You gonna fight me, man?" Jason jumped up and defensively faced Tommy.

Rocky, Aisha, Kim, and Adam stared up at the two former best friends. They speechlessly watched the scene unfold before them. Tommy and Jason charged each other at the same time and Rocky, Aisha, Kim, and Adam jumped up, trying to break up the oncoming fight.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rocky said, jumping in between the two as Adam grabbed Tommy from behind and Aisha and Kim tried to pull Jason back.

"What the hell, man?" Jason said.

"Look, guys," said Aisha, pushing Jason to one side, away from Tommy. "Let's just start over and forget the past few minutes. We're all a little bit tense being locked up in here, especially since we don't know why we're here or who's keeping us hostage or what's even going on.. But, we're all obviously here for a reason. Whoever captured us picked us for some reason."

"And," added Rocky, "if they want to destroy us, they probably don't need to do anything else other than leave us in here together. It looks like we're pretty capable of destroying each other by ourselves without any help from evil beings or whatever."

"Leaving us easier to pick apart and destroy," replied Adam, quietly. "And they're doing a good job at it," he added, wryly. His arms were still around Tommy, holding him back.

Aisha looked around, shaking her head. "This is not what I expected or wanted whenever I saw you guys again. But whatever, I guess." She sat down next to Kim. Everyone else slowly sat down as well, back to the same spots they were in, complete with the same feelings of tension and awkwardness.

Everyone's guard immediately rose as they heard a sing-song voice echo down the hall. "How are my favorite prisoners?"

Aisha and Kim grabbed each other's arms, tensing up. The girl with the crazy pink hair approached the bars, laughing. She was surrounded by those weird-looking things in black again.

"What the hell do you want with us?" Tommy asked angrily. He jumped up to face the girl.

"I just want to show you exactly who you'll be destroying!" the girl cackled.

"We're not destroying anybody!" Rocky said.

"Except each other," murmured Adam. Aisha threw him a dirty look.

"Who are you?" continued Rocky. "What do you want with us?"

"The name is Kapri. And I'm here to show you who you're destroying, silly!" She moved her hands around and opened some sort of portal-thing that showed what the former rangers thought was happening out in the world.

The former rangers stood up and gathered around each other. The bars were preventing them from getting close to Kapri and the portal-thing, but it didn't stop them from watching. They were all curious as to what they were going to see and none of them knew what was coming.

Rocky, Aisha, Adam, Jason, Kim, and Tommy saw three rangers-red, blue, and yellow-on the screen. The three of them held up their fists as they prepared for battle.

Kim gasped. "New Power Rangers?"

Kapri laughed. "I don't know about new, but they sure are Power Rangers. And you are all going to help us destroy them. Because what's the best way to defeat the Power Rangers? Uncle came up with the most genius plan! Use old Power Rangers to destroy them!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "This is Uncle's greatest idea, yet!"

"Who, exactly, is your uncle?" Tommy asked, moving to stand protectively in front of Kim.

"You don't know Uncle?" Kapri looked bewildered. "Uncle Lothor will be the greatest this world had ever known. And when he destroys the Power Rangers, with your help, he'll go down in history as the only one who ever defeated the Power Rangers!"

"You do know that all the bad guys say that, right?" said Rocky. He, too, took a protective stance in front of Aisha. "And never once had they won."

"Rita. Zedd. The Machine Empire. Divatox. Astronema." Adam ticked off his fingers as he counted down.

"But," pointed out Kapri, "they never had what we have. Old rangers who'll destroy these rangers! Now, they're ninjas, so you've all got to be careful. Can't have Uncle mad at us, now, can we?"

"You're forgetting one thing. We won't join you," said Kim.

"Oh, _that_ won't be a problem," Kapri said.

Kim looked at the portal. "Only three rangers?" The monster came into the frame.

"What are they fighting?" asked Aisha.

"That is Sucker!" answered Kapri. "He won mine and Marah's competition...not that it's any of _your_ business!"

"Oh, look," said Adam. "Two more rangers."

"Two blue rangers and two red rangers?" said Rocky. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently it is," said Jason. "No team ever had two of the same ranger colors."

"Oh, those dreaded rangers." Kapri waved a hand in annoyance. "Those two used to be on our side, too. Then they decided to help those losers."

"I wonder why," Tommy said, dryly.

"But, we're much better prepared now," said Kapri, clapping her hands together. "And while those rangers are distracted with Sucker and the Kelzacks, we could get to more important matters at hand." She snapped her fingers, making the portal disappear and throwing the former rangers backward. "You," she said, firmly. Kapri pointed to the smallest of the former rangers. "Pink ranger. Uncle is so looking forward to meeting you finally."

"WHAT?" The other rangers stood in front of Kim, blocking her from Kapri's sight. Tommy stood closest to her.

Kapri laughed. "Like that'll stop me. None of you have powers. At least not yet. And once you join with us, we'll be unstoppable. Like a family," she added as an afterthought.

"Great, one big, happy family," murmured Jason.

Kapri straightened up and pointed to the cell. "Get her!' she commanded. She blew an icy frost through the cell, freezing all of them except for Kim.

"No, no," Kim yelled. "Let me go!" The Kelzacks entered the cell slowly and grabbed her. "Let go of me!" The other former rangers tried with all their might to move. They were only able to move their eyes, but couldn't move their mouths or anything else. "Let go of me!" Kim yelled again, kicking and screaming her way through the hall.

Kapri grinned, closing the cell door. She looked at each of the rangers and laughed. "And now it begins," she said, before walking off with the Kelzacks behind her, carrying Kim so she couldn't fight them off.

As soon as Kim and Kapri disappeared from their view, the icy frost in the air warmed up and the former rangers were able to move again.

"KIMBERLY!" Tommy yelled, grabbing the bars and pulling at them. He kept pulling at them, as the others listened, feeling the same pain. Rocky had his arm around Aisha, trying to comfort her as she silently cried. Adam sat in a corner by himself, holding his head in his hands. "KIMBERLY!" Tommy yelled again.

Jason stood off to the side, taking everything in silently. He walked over to Tommy and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. At Jason's touch, Tommy quieted down. He dropped to his knees and started sobbing. "We'll get her back," Jason said, quietly. "We will. I'm sure of it."

Adam looked around and stood up, moving closer to Jason and Tommy. "Yeah, we'll get her back. We'll find her, Tommy, we always do."

Tommy continued sobbing. Everyone else silently sat near him, watching. "You love her still," said Aisha, softly. Tommy looked up at her and shook his head. Aisha nodded. "Yes, you do. It's okay. She loves you still, too. I know she thinks that letter is the single, most biggest mistake of her life. And I believe that she regrets it everyday."

Again, nobody said anything. "I thought we left it behind," said Jason. There was no longer any trace of anger in his voice. Just hurt and sadness. "All this ranger stuff. We were past it. We had our own lives. Normal lives that didn't involve morphing into some superhero when a monster is destroying the city.

"Maybe a little _too_ normal," said Rocky. "I mean, it got kind of boring. It was kind of boring. Not that I prefer this to being in school everyday. I mean, the food was good."

"Yeah, but would you rather be leading that boring, _normal_ life or stuck here, taken prisoner in a cell by some evil things that we have no idea how to handle? That we've never even _seen_ before. And because we used to be Power Rangers so many years ago, we get captured. And since they've already taken Kim to do...whatever to her...I'm assuming they're through with the whole capturing old rangers. And why are we the only ones captured? How come we're here? What special thing did we do to get chosen?"

"Are you talking about now or back when we were teenagers, Jason?" asked Aisha, gently. She removed herself from Rocky's grip and moved to sit next to Jason, putting a hand on his knee. "Because...you, Kim, Trini, Billy, and Zack were all chosen for a reason. You all protected the world as well as you could. And when you, Trini, and Zack left, all we wanted to do was live up to the legacy that you guys had started."

Jason sighed. "Then where are they? We weren't the only ones chosen by Zordon. Trini, Billy, Zack. Hell, Katherine and Tanya, even."

Rocky shrugged. "Who knows. But, hey, it could always be worse. Just remember that. At least we're not alone in here." He looked at Tommy, who was still sobbing silently in front of him.

* * *

"Let me go!" Kim yelled. She struggled against her bonds. The Kelzacks were still carrying her, following Kapri. "Let me go!" Kim started screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Shut her up!" came a harsh voice.

Kim, afraid of who or what surrounded her, stopped screaming. She went frozen, not because of Kapri, but because she was surprised and frightened at the sight before her: a number of evil-looking creatures and the two girls that had captured her and Aisha. "What the hell is this?" she thought to herself. She looked at who seemed the be the leader. He wore a scary-looking mask that covered his entire face and spoke in a deep, rumbling growl.

"Do you know who I am?" he growled, facing Kim.

Kim refused to show fear and defiantly crossed her arms. "No," she retorted. "And I really don't care to, either."

The leader stood before them and made a menacing sound. "I am Lother. And you will be my first ranger."

"No, I won't. I know what you want to do. Destroy the Power Rangers? That's never happened before and it never will!"

"Ah, but my predecessors don't have what I have: a team of Power Rangers. Some of the most powerful and longest serving rangers there have been. Your abilities combined with these Psycho Morphers that I retrieved from Mirinoi is the perfect combination to the destruction of the Power Rangers and in turn, the world!"

"And, exactly how are you going to do that? Because I refuse to fight the rangers. You can't make me." Again, Kim defiantly crossed her arms and was about to sit on the floor until she noticed how dirty it was. Kim settled for looking in the other direction.

"Yes, I figured something like this would happen. That's fine. All you need is a little push." Lothor waved his hand and a number of Kelzacks grabbed Kim, who struggled against them again.

"Let me go!" she yelled again.

"Let's go," Lothor growled.

"Ooh! Family trip!" exclaimed Marah, clapping her hands. Lothor motioned to Kapri and Marah and the group of them disappeared from the lair.

* * *

"Watch out over there, Tori!"

Tori dropped to her knees before jumping up to continue fighting. "Thanks, Blake!"

"Oh, come on!" yelled Shane. "At least make it hard!"

Tori, Shane, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, and Cam were all morphed and were fighting the latest monster, Sucker. The fight was going well, in a sense that they weren't losing, although they weren't really winning either. The six rangers stood in a line and charged the remaining Kelzacks. The monster shot something at the rangers, but with their ninja abilities, they easily dodged anything thrown at them.

At once, a brilliant pink smoke erupted from the woods. The rangers all looked in that direction and Shane motioned for them to follow. "Hunter, Blake, stay here and take care of this." They nodded and continued fighting. "Cam, get back to Ninja Ops and see if you can figure out what that is." He nodded and left. "Tori, Dustin, let's check it out."

"Right," Tori said. The three of them used their ninja speed to avoid the rest of the Kelzacks and ran into the woods, following the fading remnants of the pink smoke.

"What do you think that was?" Dustin asked.

"Who knows," answered Tori. "But no doubt it had something to do with that light thing that I saw."

"It may not, Tor," replied Shane. "Let's go and check it out. I hope Cam could pick up on what it might've been."

"Rangers."

Tori, Shane, and Dustin all stopped dead in their tracks and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with one another. They stood in defensive stances, unsure of what they were facing. They saw that they were surrounded and moved to stand in a triangle, with their backs to one another.

"Yeah?" yelled out Shane. "You want something?" The three rangers were surprised to see Lothor standing before them. Marah and Kapri stood off to the side while a group of Lothor's generals flanked him on either side. Tori, Dustin, and shane quickly glanced at each other and faced Lothor, not leaving the other's sides.

"Nice of you to join us, rangers," Lothor growled. "Might I be pleased to present the newest member of my-"

"Family," interrupted Marah.

"Yeah, please say family," added Kapri.

"We'd have a really big one, then," Marah said, looking at Kapri.

"Yeah, really big."

Lothor cleared his throat and the two of them fell silent. He stepped aside to reveal someone who was decked out in thick, pink and white armor. She carried a pink bow at her side and held it over one shoulder. "This is the pink psycho ranger," Lothor growled.

Tori, Shane, and Dustin looked at each other and gasped. "Pink psycho ranger?" Tori said, breathlessly.

"Yes," the pink psycho ranger said in a robotic voice. "The name's Kimberly Hart, by the way. And there is nothing that I want more than the destruction of the Power Rangers." She held up her bow and aimed it at the red ranger.

"Go," Shane said in a voice, barely above a whisper. "Run."

In the blink of an eye, Tori, Shane, and Dustin disappeared using their ninja abilities to escape.

* * *

"NO!" Tommy yelled. The portal had opened once again and showed the scene in the woods between the Ninja rangers and Kim and the creatures that held them captive. Aisha burst into tears and dug her face into Rocky's shoulder. "KIM!" Tommy yelled again, trying to reach through the bars to get to the portal. Rocky put his arm around Aisha and pulled her in. Adam and Jason stood next to each other, speechless at the sight. "NO!" Tommy yelled.

* * *

"A pink psycho ranger?" Tori said, hunched over Cam's shoulder.

"I'm just as confused as you are," said Cam, furiously typing away. Shane and Dustin were also gathered around Cam's computer screen and were soon joined by Blake and Hunter.

"So, what was that?" Hunter asked. "An evil pink ranger? Is it an actual ranger? Or is it even a person? What happened over there?"

"We're still trying to figure that out," answered Cam. "How'd the rest of the fight go?"

"Fine," answered Blake. "Nothing exciting happened. They all disappeared after that pink smoke disappeared."

"Well," said Shane, "that pink psycho ranger said her name is Kimberly Hart."

"Pretty actual-person sounding to me," added Dustin. "Her voice sounded like a robot, though. Does that have anything to do with something? Do you think she was a person and then a robot? Or maybe she was always a robot."

"But she moved like a real person, too," said Tori.

"Hmm. Crazy stuff," said Blake.

The five rangers gathered around Cam and his computer, looking over his shoulder. "Where's Sensei, Cam?" asked Shane. He looked around, expecting Sensei to flip onto the desk to join them.

Cam looked around and adjusted his glasses. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen him for a few hours now, actually. Last I remember seeing him, it was yesterday."

"Do you think something happened?" asked Blake.

"I sure hope not," Cam answered. He looked at the rangers matching their worried looks with his own.

"Because that would sure just make this whole day a lot more worse," said Hunter. "Anything yet?"

"Well, this is pretty interesting." Cam pointed to the screen. "Kimberly Hart. She was born and raised in Angel Grove until she moved to Florida during her senior year of high school. She was training for a career in gymnastics until she was injured during a routine. She's supposed currently living in Geneva, working for the United Nations."

"United Nations? Yeah, right!" said Blake.

"Wait, there's more," added Cam. "Angel Grove was the site of the first team of Power Rangers."

"See, I told you they always existed," said Dustin.

Tori shot him a look that told him to be quiet. "Keep going, Cam."

"Yeah, Angel Grove was the site of the first team of Power Rangers," he repeated.

"Anything to do with the pink psycho ranger?"

"Angel Grove was the site of numerous Power Ranger teams, at different times. Until a team revealed itself to the public. But Kimberly Hart wasn't one of them."

"Who were they?" asked Hunter.

"A Carlos Vallerte, Cassie Chan, Theodore J. Jarvis Johnson, Ashley Hammond, and a Zhane. No record of a last name for Zhane is coming up."

"Is there any way we could get in contact with them? Maybe they know Kimberly Hart or something," said Tori.

"I mean, they are from the same town," added Blake. "They should know each other or something, right?"

"No contact information is coming up for any of them. Their last listed addresses are in Angel Grove, but nobody has seen them in Angel Grove since they revealed their identities to the public."

"She's destroying Blue Bay Harbor," said Shane, watching a monitor of the city. "We've got to go. At least we sort of know what we're up against."

"I'll get CyberCam to keep researching the pink psycho ranger and Kimberly Hart. You guys go, I'll catch up. Be careful out there."

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Shane, Dustin, Tori, Cam, Blake, and Hunter ran up to where they saw the pink psycho ranger fighting amongst civilians in Blue Bay Harbor. They were already morphed, so they hoped to catch her by surprise. They lined up next to each other when she took down a building.

"Nice to finally see you, rangers," she said, menacingly. She spoke in a deep, robotic voice and drew in her bow as she faced the rangers.

"You won't get away with this!" Shane yelled.

"And who's going to stop me? You?" Kim laughed. It sounded hollow and evil in the rangers' ears.

They circled the pink psycho ranger and held up their fists, ready for battle. Kim quickly charged, aiming for Tori first. A number of Kelzacks appeared and kept the other rangers busy. Kim ran to Tori and used her bow to strike Tori across the chest. Tori fell down at the first hit and glanced down at the smoke rising from her chest. She had never felt such pain like this before.

"Ahh!" she yelled out, gripping her chest and writhing in pain. Kim laughed and slowly approached the blue ranger. She held her bow high above her head and cackled as she brought it down.

"What the?" Kim yelled.

"Tori!" Blake yelled, protecting her from Kim's blow with his Thunder Staff. He dropped to her side, never taking his eyes off of Kim. "Are you all right?"

"I-I'm n-n-not s-su-sure," Tori said, panting and holding her chest.

"You should get back to Ninja Ops," Blake said. He used his Thunder Staff to throw Kim back. "Be careful." He jumped up and led Kim away from Tori. "You're mine!"

"I'm not leaving, Blake," Tori said, coughing. She slowly stood to her feet, hunched over. Tori saw Kim and Blake fighting so fast they looked like a blur of pink, white, navy, and gold. She used her remaining energy to fire off a shot of water toward them. She fell to her knees after using her ninja ability.

Kim and Blake broke apart after Tori hit them with water. Kim snarled loudly at Blake and used her bow to fire off a series of arrows at him. He dodged each one of them and looked back at Tori, who had fallen to her knees. He saw that Tori had used her remaining energy and she lay unmoving on the ground. "Tori!" he yelled. He fought off Kim and ran back to Tori's side. Hunter had taken over his fight with Kim and shielded Blake and Tori from her sight.

Hunter used his Thunder Staff to protect himself from Kim's arrows and moved further away from Blake and Tori. He charged Kim and jumped at her, bringing down his Thunder Staff across her chest. It didn't seem to phase Kim. She merely laughed and took a step back, setting up for another series of arrows.

"How is she, Blake?" Cam yelled. He used his Samurai Saber to knock down a group of Kelzacks.

"Not good," Blake yelled back. Cam ran over to Blake and Tori. Shane stood in front of them, protecting them. Tori moaned, holding her chest again. She tried to sit up and coughed. Blake put a hand on Tori's back, supporting her. "Don't stand. Don't waste your energy." He looked at Cam. "She's not good."

"I'll bring her back to Ninja Ops," said Cam. Blake nodded. He and Cam helped Tori stand and Blake ran to help Shane, Dustin, and Hunter fight Kim. The four of them now faced the psycho ranger and she seemed to be holding her own against them, if not have the upperhand against them.

Lothor stood nearby, laughing. "I knew this was the most perfect idea, yet!" he growled. "I can't wait to see my other rangers in action!"

Marah and Kapri clapped their hands and gave each other a high-five. "Good job, sister!" they both said at the same time.

Lothor laughed again. "Psycho Pink!" Lothor motioned for her to be at his side and immediately, she appeared there. "Let's get the others back into action, shall we?"

"No!" she said defiantly. "I have them where I want them! They're merely weak little things. I'll destroy these weaklings soon!"

Shane, Dustin, Hunter, and Blake stood next to each other, all of them holding some part of their body that was aching. Smoke was rising from their spandex suits, but they refused to back down. "Never!" Shane yelled.

"No," Lothor growled. "We leave."

"No! I want to destroy them now!"

"NO!" Lothor growled, more menacingly. "LET'S GO!" In a blink of a light, Kim, Lothor, Marah, Kapri, and the Kelzacks disappeared.

The rangers ran to the spot where Kim was standing just a moment. They looked around at the sky. The four remaining rangers stood with each other. "Let's head back to Ninja Ops," said Shane. "There's nothing more we can do here."

Blake held up his wrist to his mouth. "Cam, how's Tori?"

"You guys better get back," he answered.

* * *

Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Jason stood in front of the portal, with their mouths open, speechless at what they just witnessed from Kim. Tommy sat on the ground, with his back against the wall, rocking back and forth. Tears were still rolling down his face and he could feel his blood boiling in his veins. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than to get out of the cell and fight each one of those things one-by-one.

The other four sat down next to him, not saying anything, but froze as they heard footsteps echoing down the hall. They heard the menacing laughter that they had only heard through the portal. Tommy jumped up, but was immediately caught in an icy frost. The other four rangers also froze in place. Lothor looked upon each of them with evil and amusement in his eyes.

"So these are them?" he growled.

"Yes, Uncle," answered Marah. "Who's next?"

"We can't wait. Didn't we do the greatest job?" exclaimed Kapri.

"Surprisingly, yes, you did." Lothor eyed each of the former rangers. "I want black." He pointed to Adam. "Go. Get him!" The cell opened and a number of Kelzacks grabbed Adam.

Adam's eyes widened as the Kelzacks grabbed him. He couldn't fight back and the other former rangers looked upon him with worried eyes.

"Bye future family!" called Marah as she waved to the remaining rangers.

As soon as they disappeared, the former rangers were able to move again. "Adam, now, too!" Rocky yelled.

"How do we fight back when they just freeze us every time?" asked Jason. "We can't fight back. Not like this."

"I don't know..." said Aisha with a tired voice. She looked around and put her head in her hands, trying to calm a pulsing headache. "I just want this whole freakin' nightmare to be over. This never happened. Kim and I are still in Geneva and I wake up to a newfound look on life to search for all you guys on MySpace or Facebook or whatever."

Jason reached over and pinched Aisha.

"Ow!" she said, rubbing the spot that he pinched on her arm.

"Not a dream, is it," he said.

Aisha rolled her eyes and rubbed the spot. "That really hurt."

"I'm sorry," he said. He rubbed her arm. "But it's not a dream."

"No," Tommy said dangerously and angrily. "It's one big freakin' nightmare."

* * *

Tori was lying down with a cool cloth on her head. "How you feeling?" Blake asked, sitting down next to her. "Cam's trying to find out more about this psycho pink and Kimberly Hart."

Tori coughed and tried to sit up. "Wh-wh-what happ-happened?"

"The pink psycho ranger kicked our butts out there."

"And...we've got a bigger problem," Cam said. "Look here, guys." Dustin, Shane, and Hunter gathered around him as Blake helped Tori sit up so she could try to see what was going on. "Another psycho ranger. Black."

"A black psycho ranger?" Shane said. "Oh no."

"It seems to be human," said Dustin. He cocked his head to the side. "Is it talking? Can we hear what it's saying?"

Cam pressed a couple of buttons. "I think so." Everyone was silent listening to Lothor speaking with the pink and black psycho rangers. "Adam Park. I guess that's his name."

"Any idea on who he is?"

Cam shook his head and pressed some more buttons. "He's from Angel Grove, also. Well, actually Stone Canyon. He moved to Angel Grove during the height of the Power Rangers there."

"Angel Grove, too?" said Hunter. "There's got to be some connection between him and Kimberly Hart."

"And why my father has mysteriously gone missing," added Cam.

Tori looked at Blake and the rest of her teammates. "Almost like we're completely alone."

"Well, at least we've still got each other," said Blake.

"Can you find anything else, Cam?" asked Shane.

"He's from Angel Grove and moved away to become...a stuntman. Now he lives in Los Angeles."

"Actually," said Dustin, "now he's the black psycho ranger."

"Why them?" asked Tori. "Do they know each other?"

Cam typed a few more things. "Well, Kimberly Hart and Adam Park were friends in high school. Here are some pictures of them that I was able to pull from the Angel Grove High School web site."

"Blake, help me over there. I want to see, too." Blake nodded and helped Tori stand. They slowly approached Cam's computer and Cam gave up his seat so Tori could sit down. "Who are these other people that's with Kimberly Hart and Adam Park?" she asked, pointing to four other people in the picture with them.

Cam made the tiny print at the bottom of the picture larger. "Looks like it's Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, Billy Cranston, and Tommy Oliver."

"Remember those names," said Hunter. "I bet anything that they'll be the next ones that we get to meet."

"What are the psychos doing?" asked Shane.

Cam typed again. "Nothing, at the moment."

"Okay," said Shane. "What's up with their other friends?"

Cam reached over Tori and close-upped on Rocky. "Rocky DeSantos, moved to Angel Grove from Stone Canyon at the same time as Adam Park and Aisha Campbell. The three of them have gone to school together since they were in elementary school. Rocky DeSantos moved away from Angel Grove and is currently in culinary school. Aisha Campbell moved away from Angel Grove to Africa and is now living in Geneva with Kimberly Hart. She works at the Red Cross. There is no known address for Billy Cranston. It seems like he disappeared shortly after graduating from high school."

"And the last one? Tommy Oliver?"

"Tommy Oliver is currently a doctoral student of paleontology under Dr. Anton Mercer. He was preparing to leave for a dig in a couple of weeks."

"So, let's monitor that and see if he leaves."

"Anything else about them?"

Cam typed away. "Nothing."

"What about those old Power Rangers?" asked Tori. "The ones that revealed themselves to the public?"

"Nothing," said Cam. "They've seemed to have disappeared, as well."

"Is there any way we could contact them?"

"I'll keep searching for some way. It seems like we need all the help we could get."

Hunter nodded. "If that was just one pink psycho ranger, I'd hate to see what the pink and black psycho ranger could do together."

* * *

"I was here first, so that means that you do what I say," snarled Kim. She and Adam were in Lothor's lair, arguing over the best way to defeat the rangers. "I had them in my grasp."

"Obviously, you did something wrong!" Adam snarled back. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

"Oh, just go back to Hollywood, black ranger," she yelled.

"Shut up!" Lothor said. "You two are giving me a headache!"

Adam and Kim glared at each other. They weren't dressed in their psycho armor, instead Kim was still in the pink vest and white shorts that she was captured in and Adam still wore his jeans and black t-shirt. Their eyes glowed a dark red.

"No," continued Lothor. "We will destroy the Power Rangers first. And we will destroy them fully and completely. And we will remove all traces of those stupid ninja schools. No one will ever be a ninja again if I could help it."

"Ooh!" exclaimed Marah. "Can I pick the next Psycho ranger?"

"No," interrupted Kapri. "I'm picking the next ranger. How about that yellow one?"

"No, the red one!"

"Shut up!" exclaimed Lothor. "Kapri. Marah. Get the blue and yellow rangers. And meet us at the abyss."

"The blue one?" said Marah. "And the yellow one?"

"Both of them?" asked Kapri.

"GO!" yelled Lothor. He looked at Adam and Kim. "Keep the rangers distracted. We will need twice the power if we are to change both of them at the same time."

Adam and Kim nodded at each other. "It's psycho time!" Kim yelled. She and Adam morphed into psycho rangers. Adam had the same-looking ranger suit as Kim, except his was black and white. He held his familiar Battle Ax at his side. "Let's go!" she yelled. "The blue ranger's mine."

"Fine," Adam said. "Leaves more for me." They disappeared into two beams of light.

* * *

"Let's go," Shane said. "Tori, you stay here with CyberCam."

"No, I could fight," she protested. She tried standing up by herself, but immediately lost her balance.

"No," Shane repeated. "It's be better for you to recover and join us later."

"Okay, but if things are going badly...I'm coming out there after you guys."

Shane nodded. He looked at Dustin, Cam, Hunter, and Blake. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Ninja Storm. Ranger Form."

"Thunder Storm. Ranger Form."

"Samurai Storm. Ranger Form."

Shane, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, and Cam nodded to each other in their ranger form and ran out of Ninja Ops. Tori sat on the makeshift bed she was lying on earlier and sighed. CyberCam continued typing away at the computer.

"I'm gonna send out a distress signal to the morphing grid," he said. "Maybe someone who's connected to it will be able to somehow help us out or something."

"I guess whatever we could do to help them out. Is there any way we could split the screens so that we could watch the guys and you could keep working on the signal?"

"Of course."

Tori hunched over CyberCam's shoulder and grimaced as she watched her fellow rangers fight the black and pink psycho rangers. "Don't you think it would be a good idea if I went now? I mean, look, they need help."

"Good try, Tori. But I don't think they want you out there yet."

"But they need help!"

CyberCam shook his head. "Nice try. It's not going to work."

Tori sighed. "Is there any way you could get a lock on Lothor and what they're doing? Maybe these fights have been just distractions because they always disappear in the middle of it, like they were waiting for something to finish. And after that first one, we had the pink evil ranger. And this second one, now we have a black evil ranger."

"That's a good idea. Let me try that." CyberCam typed a few things in the computer and was able to split the screen into three parts. The uppermost screen showed the rangers fighting the pink and black psycho rangers. The bottom right screen showed images of what Tori assumed was the morphing grid and the bottom left screen showed Lothor, Marah, and Kapri, along with another group of Kelzacks and a handful of Lothor's generals.

"Can you focus on that for a bit?" Tori asked, pointing to the screen of Lothor.

CyberCam nodded, bringing the screen to full-sized. "Uh-oh. That doesn't look good."

"What are they doing?" Tori leaned in closer. and pointed to the screen. "Hey!" exclaimed. "Those two are from that picture with Adam Park and Kimberly Hart!" She snapped her fingers, trying to remember their names.

CyberCam pulled up the Angel Grove web site that they had looked at earlier. "Aisha Campbell and Rocky DeSantos." He minimized the screen and he and Tori continued to watch Lothor.

"What are they doing?" Tori asked again. "They look like they're prisoners. Where is that?"

CyberCam typed a couple more things into the computer. "It looks like they're at the...Abyss of Evil."

"And what does that do? Although I think I could figure it out."

"It seems that Lothor is using the Abyss to turn these people evil."

"But how are they the Psycho Rangers? Turning them evil is one thing, but...evil with ranger powers? That's pretty impossible to beat. We almost lost to the pink psycho alone. And now there are going to be four of them? We've got to warn the others."

CyberCam nodded. He pressed a button to get in touch with Shane and the other rangers. "Shane."

"What's up?" he yelled. Tori grimaced at the sound of the fatigue in his voice.

"Come back to Ninja Ops."

"No, we're not done here."

"The black and pink psycho rangers are just tiring you out!" Tori cried out. "Lothor is building up a whole ranger team. He's got two more people that he's turning evil!" Tori pointed to the screen, at the image of Rocky and Aisha being lowered into a pit. "Right now, Shane," she yelled. "They're turning evil right now and in a few minutes, I bet you the black and pink psychos will disappear."

"Tori, as long as they're out here threatening the city, we've got to keep fighting." Tori looked at CyberCam in defeat as Shane stopped talking and continued fighting.

* * *

"Guess it's just the two of us now, huh," Jason said in a dead voice.

Tommy shrugged. "As many times as we've been evil before...it's never-"

"We've always found some way to come back." Jason and Tommy both fell silent. "Hey." He put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man."

"For what?"

Jason shrugged. "For all this unplaced hate and resentment that I have for you."

"Huh? What'd I do?"

Jason shrugged again. "It kinda goes past you and to everyone else, too. If that makes you feel any better."

"Why?"

Jason opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted by the footsteps coming down the hall. The two of them jumped to their feet to try to defend themselves.

"If we see that girl open her mouth, try and duck out of the way. Maybe it won't affect us if it doesn't reach us," Tommy said.

Jason nodded. They both stood defensively, facing the entrance of the cell.

"Ah, the two final pieces of my puzzle," growled Lothor. He laughed. "You think the two of you will fight us off."

Kapri opened her mouth and Jason and Tommy ducked out of the way. The icy frost missed them, but forced Lothor to open the cell. The Kelzacks overran the cell, but Jason and Tommy started fighting back. The Kelzacks cornered the two of them and Kapri opened her mouth to freeze them. She laughed as they froze, still in a fighting stance.

* * *

"So, what is going on with Aisha Campbell and Rocky DeSantos?" Shane asked. He was hunched over the computer screen, holding ice to his left eye, which was swollen.

"They are evil now," answered Tori. "We saw it, we saw them. They were lowered into the Abyss of Evil and when they came out, their eyes were red. A dark sort of red, too."

"And now we have a new blue psycho ranger and a yellow psycho ranger running around," said Blake. He was in the middle of watching a screen that showed the pink and black rangers joined by a blue and yellow ranger and was holding ice to his side.

Hunter was lying on the same makeshift bed that Tori was on earlier. Cam leaned over him, cleaning out his cuts and applying ice to his bruises. "And where are they now?" Hunter asked.

"Making a mess of Blue Bay Harbor, it looks like," answered Dustin. He was the only one who seemed to have escaped unscatched, although he was also in pain, holding his arm.

"We've got another lock on Lothor," CyberCam said. The rangers, except for Hunter, all leaned in closer to the computer screen.

"Now, who are they?" asked Shane.

"Well, that's Tommy Oliver," answered Tori. She pointed to the taller man. "I recognize him from the picture. He's the one who is a paleontology student."

"So, who's the other guy?" asked Dustin.

Tori shrugged, looking at Cam. "Anyway you could find out who that is, too?"

"I'll try," he answered.

"I guess they're going to be the next psycho rangers," said Blake.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Joy," he said sarcastically. He threw a ball up and down, catching it before it hit his face.

"I'm getting something," Cam said.

"What is it?" Tori and Shane asked at the same time.

"I don't believe it."

"What?" asked Blake and Dustin. Hunter sat up slowly from his spot.

"The transmission is coming from...well, for lack of a better word, space." Cam stopped typing and looked up at Tori, Shane, Dustin, and Blake, who hovered around him.

"Space?" said Tori, unbelievingly. Cam nodded.

"Wait, like aliens?" asked Dustin.

Cam shrugged. "I'm not sure. Let me open the transmission. I have to close this signal on Lothor, though."

"That's fine," said Tori. "I think we can safely assume that this Tommy Oliver and whoever he's with is going to be turned evil and turn into the next psycho rangers."

Shane, Blake, and Hunter looked at each other grimly and nodded. "Then there'll be six of them versus the six of us," said Blake. "And it was already hard enough trying to fight off two rangers."

"Have you been able to open that transmission from...space?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, here it is, shh!" Cam opened another screen and maximized it to fill the screen. Hunter slowly rose him his seat and walked over to the rest of the rangers. Blake seemed to pull up a chair out of nowhere for Hunter to sit in. The six rangers sat in front of the screen and waited for the transmission to go through.

A glassy image fell over the screen. It looked like they were looking at everything under water.

"What is this?" asked Tori. "Is it some kind of joke?"

Cam furrowed his brow. "I'm not sure."

"No, not a joke," answered someone on the other end of the transmission. It appeared to be a man who wore a strange-looking mask over his face. It covered his nose and stretched over his eyes toward the back of his head. His voice sounded watery, as if he were speaking under water. "I've picked up a distress signal from this location. Is everything all right?"

Cam, Tori, Shane, Dustin, Hunter, and Blake stared at the screen, dumbfounded and speechless.

The man on the other end of the transmission smiled. "I guess it would be smart to introduce myself first. You all look as if your mouths will fall into your hands." He laughed. "I'm Billy Cranston-"

Tori looked around. "Billy Cranston!" she whispered.

"Well, at least we know he's not the next psycho ranger," added Dustin.

Billy stopped talking and smiled. "Yes, I'm Billy and I'm calling from Aquitar."

"You're friends with Kimberly Hart, Adam Park, Aisha Campbell, Rocky DeSantos, and Tommy Oliver?"

"And some other guy that we're not sure what his name is?" added Dustin.

Billy furrowed his brow. "Yes, I was friends with them. Back in high school. I haven't talked to them for years, though. Especially since I moved to Aquitar, full-time." He paused a bit looking at each of the people standing before him. "Well, I received a distress signal from this location through the morphing grid. What seems to be the problem?"

"Your friends are attacking us!" exclaimed Hunter.

"What?"

Cam glared at Hunter, before nudging him out of the way. He leaned forward to speak with Billy. "Since you have a connection to the morphing grid, I'm going to assume you know about the Power Rangers."

Billy nodded. "Are you all the current crop of rangers?"

Cam nodded. "I'm Cam Watanabe, the green samurai ranger."

"Shane, red wind ranger."

Tori held up a hand. "Tori, blue wind ranger."

"Hi! I'm Dustin, the yellow wind ranger."

Blake waved. "Blake, navy thunder ranger."

"Hunter, crimson thunder ranger."

Billy nodded. "Well, I was the original blue ranger. It's nice to see the Power last for so long." He frowned. "But I know this just wasn't a courtesy call. Is everything all right?"

"Long story short," said Cam, "your old friends turned evil because of Lothor, who is trying to-"

"Destroy the Power Rangers?" asked Billy. "And he captured my old friends to help him."

Tori nodded. "And they're really, really strong and powerful." She gestured around her. "We could barely put up a fight against the pink psycho ranger."

"Pink psycho ranger?" asked Billy.

Tori nodded. "Yeah, that's what Lothor called them. And that's what they called themselves."

"And you said that Kimberly, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Tommy are there?" Billy asked. The teenagers nodded. "So that's what...pink, yellow, blue, black, and...is Tommy red or white?"

Shane shrugged. "We don't know. When your transmission from...space came in, we cut away from watching Tommy and the other guy turn...well, turn evil."

"Other guy? Who's that?"

"We don't know," answered Cam. "We're hoping that you could help us, maybe? My father is our leader and our mentor and guides us in everything we do, but he seems to be missing at this second. I have a strong suspicion that Lothor is behind that, as well."

Billy furrowed his brow. "I'll try and get you guys some help as soon as I could. Thank you for contacting me."

"Thank you for responding!" exclaimed Cam. "Any help would be great. We've got two rangers down-"

"We're not down!" protested Tori and Hunter at the same time.

"Well," continued Cam, "either way, we'd welcome the help."

Billy nodded. "I'll ask the space rangers. The Aquitan rangers can't survive for long periods of time on Earth. And besides, the space rangers have already dealt with the psycho powers. So, maybe they know something that could help you guys out."

"Thank you, again," said Cam.

Billy smiled. "No problem. May the power protect you."

In a flash, the screen went black and Billy disappeared from their view. Cam looked around and held up his hands. "Well, that's better than nothing."

"What are the psycho rangers doing right now?"

Cam made the blank screen disappear. "Nothing, apparently. No traces of the psycho rangers or Lothor in Blue Bay Harbor."

"Maybe they decided to go into hiding," Dustin said, optimistically. "Right guys?"

The others looked at him skeptically. "For some reason, I don't think so," replied Blake. He looked at his brother and Tori. "How are you guys, anyway?"

"Better," answered Tori.

"Good as new," answered Hunter. "We'll be ready the next time the psychos strike."

Shane nodded. "We'll need everyone."

"I'm going to search for my father and see if I could get a lock on him."

"Good idea," said Tori.

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

"We attack at dawn," Tommy declared. His eyes flashed red as he closed his fist and smashed it into his other hand.

"Why do you get to decide?" growled Kim. Her eyes flashed red, as well. "I was the first one, so I should decide."

Tommy's dark red eyes glowed at Kim. He gestured to his clothes-a red shirt and kakhi pants. "I am the red ranger. That means leader."

Jason rolled his eyes. "I'm the original red ranger. That means I'm leader."

Tommy gestured to his shirt again. "But now, I'm red."

"But I was-no, I am the first. That means I'm the leader," argued Kim.

"You were the first because you're the easiest to control," glowered Tommy.

"You didn't seem to think so when we were dating."

"Yeah, if I did, I would've made you man enough to break up with me in person," retorted Tommy.

Kim narrowed her eyes at him, not saying anything. Adam and Rocky glared at one another before shoving each other out of the way to get through a doorway.

"Yeah, that's why you've got nothing to say, do you? You know I'm right."

Jason snorted. "You two are both pathetic, you know that? The pair of you crying over something that happened so long ago."

"We're not crying!" Kim and Tommy exclaimed at the same time. They glared at each other. "Shut up!" they yelled at one another.

"Oh, would both of you just shut up!" exploded Aisha. She threw her hands in the air and rolled her dark red eyes. "Tommy, you obviously have a problem with Kimberly. Kim, you have a problem with Tommy. Can't you guys at the very least agree to shut the hell up!"

Kim opened her mouth to speak.

"Would all of you just shut up!" yelled Lothor. He looked at Marah and Kapri, who were giggling in the corner. "They're worse than you two."

Marah looked at Kapri and grinned. "Uncle likes us better than someone else!"

Kim glared at her ex-boyfriend. A number of different thoughts ran through her head, each of them worse than the last. Seeing him brought back the feelings that ran through her when she wrote the actual letters. And since she was currently under an evil spell, those feelings were twenty times more intensified than they had been so many years ago. All she could see was hurt and bitterness. Not just directed at Tommy, but at all of her friends. She just felt it a little more stronger with Tommy.

She heard Lothor yelling at them again and was growing more and more irritated with him and everyone else. Lothor's nieces, Marah and Kapri, kept jabbering about everyone becoming a "family," but if she were going to be related to people with **_that_** kind of hair, she'd seriously kill herself.

Kim felt Aisha brush past her. "Excuse you," she said, rudely. She saw Aisha eye her up and down.

"You were in my way," she spit out, with equal rudeness.

Kim snarled and rolled her eyes. "Next time, open your eyes and watch where you're going!"

"Next time, **_get_** out of my way!"

Kim stormed off, trying to find someplace quiet that was far from the others.

"Psycho pink!" barked Lothor.

im exchaled loudly, seeing that she was the last psycho ranger left in the room. She didn't even notice Tommy and Jason leaving. She turned slowly and faced Lothor.

"The rangers are on their heels," he growled. "Take them out, one by one."

Kim smirked and her red eyes flashed brighter. "_A solo job?_" she thought. "_I'll take it_." Kim looked at Lothor and gave a little bow. "I'd be happy to do that." She closed her fists, tightly.

"Good. Then you and yellow can have the blue ranger. Psychos black and blue will take over the yellow ranger and silver and red can have the red ranger," planned Lothor. "Yes. That will work. And when those three are disposed of, we got at navy and crimson _**hard**_. They'll pay for betraying us. And my dear nephew...he's mine."

"What!" exclaimed Kim. "I'm doing this alone!"

"No!" barked Lothor. "You do this the way I say!"

"And I could do it alone! I had them in my grasp before you had me leave them!"

"You may be strong, but together, you're unstoppable!" Lothor yelled. "Rangers!"

Out of nowhere, Tommy, Jason, Adam, Rocky, and Aisha showed up. Lothor told them the plan. Kim rolled her eyes as she pulled out her morpher. She opened her mouth to call it, but she heard-

"It's psycho time!" yelled Tommy.

Kim glared at him as he and the other psychos morphed. Lothor looked at her like she was crazy. She sighed and morphed after the other psychos.

"Go!" Lothor said.

They disappeared in six beams of light.

* * *

"Uh-oh. They've been spotted," said Cam.

"The psycho rangers?" groaned Tori.

"Yup, downtown Blue Bay Harbor."

"We've gotta go!" exclaimed Hunter.

"Let's go!" declared Shane. He looked at Cam. "Keep all lines of communication open. If Billy contacts again..."

Cam nodded. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up. I'm still working on locating a signal to find my father."

Shane nodded. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm. Ranger Form!"

"Thunder Storm. Ranger Form!"

Shane, Dustin, Tori, Blake, and Hunter morphed and all ran out of Ninja Ops.

"Good luck out there, guys," Cam said, seeing them run off. He typed a few things into the computer. "Come on, where are you, father?" He pulled up a screen to watch the rangers fight the psychos.

The five rangers ran to Blue Bay Harbor and saw the six psychos destroying the city. Civilians were running away in all directions.

"We have to lure them away from the busy area," said Tori. "The less people get hurt, the better it'll be." She shrugged and looked at her fellow rangers. "If that's any better." She looked away from them, hearing evil laughter. Tori turned and looked at the psychos.

The red psycho stepped forward and laughed again. It brought chills down Tori's spine. "Nice of you all to drop by," he said.

"Tommy Oliver!" Shane yelled. "We know that's you underneath that."

"We know you're under a spell!" yelled Dustin. "All of you." He said, looking around at the five rangers who stood a step behind the red ranger.

"Get them!" Tommy yelled. He and the other psycho rangers pulled out their weapons and charged the power rangers. He waved around his red and white sword around him.

Rocky stepped forward and waved around his blue and white power lance, matching his psycho armor, perfectly. Beneath his helmet, he eyed the yellow ranger, evilly. Adam stepped forward, standing next to Rocky, and held his black and white power axe in front of him. At once, he and Rocky charged the yellow ranger and Dustin pulled out his lion hammer to protect himself. Hunter ran to his side to help him.

Kim pulled out her bow and pointed it towards the blue ranger.

Tori felt her breath catch in her chest, remembering the pain she felt the last time the pink psycho targeted her.

Kim laughed, seeing the blue ranger flinch a bit. "Remember me?" she asked. She took a step forward and got ready to fight Tori. Kim held up her bow and jumped towards the blue ranger.

"Wait!" yelled Aisha. "We do this together." She pulled out her yellow and white power daggers and twirled them in her hands, jumping toward Kim and Tori who had already begun fighting.

Tori pulled her blue ninja sword and used it to block all of Kim's advances. She looked taken aback at the yellow ranger and started moving backwards to avoid their hits. Blake ran forward with his thunder blade and used it to block Aisha's daggers from hitting Tori.

"Step away, navy," said Kim. "We have no use for you."

Aisha used her dagger to point at Tori. "She's the one we want."

"And she's the one we're going to get," said Kim.

"Over my dead body!" yelled Blake. He and Tori were able to push Aisha and Kim and were able to put some distance between the four of them.

Tommy and Jason were watching the others fight around them. He laughed again, looking at the red ranger. "Well, I guess that just leaves us, doesn't it red ranger?"

"I'll take what I get!" Shane yelled. He charged Tommy and Jason, holding his ninja sword in front him. Shane swung it toward Tommy, who easily blocked his hit. Jason came up from behind and used his power staff to charge at Shane. Shane suddenly ducked, avoiding the hit and used his ninja speed to get away from Tommy and Jason.

Tori swung her arms around and used a water blast to push the pink and yellow psycho rangers back. "Don't mess with water!" she yelled.

"Good one, Tor," said Blake.

"Thanks."

Blake ran off to help Shane with the red and silver psycho rangers.

Kim and Aisha brushed the water off of themselves. "Well, that's not very nice, blue ranger," said Kim. "No cheating!"

"Cheating?" yelled Tori. "It's two against one!"

"Not when your boyfriend was fighting!" yelled Aisha. She charged Tori again with her daggers.

"And besides," said Kim, "aren't you guys all...honorable and stuff?"

Kim stood, watching them fight for a bit. When she got a little bored, she pulled out her bow and arrow and pointed it at the two. She casually shot it,not really caring where it landed or even who it hit. As far as she saw, if it hit the blue ranger, great. She was supposed to defeat her, anyway. And if she hit the yellow psycho, then no problem. One less person standing in her way. Kim knew she could defeat these rangers by herself. She didn't need their help. She didn't know why they were even all working together. It's not like any of them liked or cared for each other.

Tori dropped to the ground with the arrow grazing her across the arm. "Aw, man!" she said, briefly looking at her arm and covering it with her hand.

"Whoa! Could you watch where you're shooting that thing!" yelled Aisha. "It nearly hit me!"

"No loss there."

Aisha rolled her eyes as she charged at Tori again.

"Ahh!" Tori rolled out of the way.

Aisha raised her daggers and prepared to strike when Dustin blocked the hit. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said. "My arm's hurt, but...I think I'll be okay."

"Go back to Ninja Ops."

"No, Dustin. I'm gonna stay." She slowly stood up and carefully cradled her arm. "It's fine. I'm fine." She pulled out her laser blasters and shot it at the psycho rangers. Kim and Aisha easily dodged Tori's shots and laughed as they cornered her and Dustin.

Adam and Rocky were both fighting Hunter, who was giving them a pretty good run for their money. Adam brought his power axe down on Hunter, who nearly blocked it with his thunder staff. His leg caught the rest of the hit. Rocky looked down at Hunter and was about to bring his lance down on Hunter when, Adam blocked Rocky's hit with the axe.

"No," said Adam, darkly. "Leave him for Lothor. Those were our instructions."

Rocky glared at him beneath his helmet. "What, and let you take all the credit? It took two of us to bring him down. And hey, if we bring back the crimson ranger dead, Lothor will be all the more happier. One less ranger."

"Leave him," Adam repeated.

"Why should I when I have him right here?" Rocky stood toe-to-toe with Adam. He held out his lance toward Hunter. "All it takes is on swift movement. And he's gone."

"He's Lothor's."

"No, the green ranger's Lothor's. And the green ranger didn't even have the decency to show up today."

As the two of them were bickering, Hunter was able to crawl away and hid behind some debris that was torn down from the buildings in downtown. He ran his hand down his leg, wincing as he felt a break. Hunter looked over the debris and saw Tori cowering behind Dustin, who was protecting her from the yellow and pink psycho rangers. Those two looked relentless, against Tori and Dustin. Tori seemed to be holding her arm into her body, but was using her other arm to shoot her laser blasters. But even that didn't look like it was working. The pink psycho would just deflect it with her bow and the yellow psycho was fast enough to dodge them.

Hunter looked around for Shane and Blake. He saw them two exchanging blow for blow with the red and silver psycho rangers. Hunter pulled out his crimson blaster and shot it at the red and silver psycho rangers. It gave Shane and Blake enough time to recover to pull out their ninja sword and thunder blade. "All right, guys!" Hunter quietly cheered. He called out to Cam. "Cam, we're in big trouble here. Can you come down?" He didn't hear a response. "That's weird," he said to himself. He crouched down further underneath the debris and called for Cam again. "Cam, come on, Cam!" He hoped that nothing happened to him. He thought back to how the Sensei was missing and hoped that Cam didn't suffer the same fate. Hunter looked over the top of the debris he was hiding behind again. He saw that the black psycho ranger had joined the red and silver psychos, fighting Blake and Shane. He looked around and saw the blue psycho ranger was fighting with yellow and pink against Dustin and Tori. Hunter pulled himself out from his hiding place. If they were going down, he wasn't going to be hiding.

He struggled to stand and held his crimson blaster in his hand. He leaned against everything that he limped by and tried to move to stand with Dustin and Tori.

"Oh, this'll be fun," cried out Kim. "A crippled ranger."

Rocky laughed evilly. "Oh, so there you are. Where have you been hiding?"

"What happened to your leg, crimson?" mocked Aisha. "Do you want me to make it all better?" She held a dagger in her hand and pointed it toward the injured leg.

Hunter held his blaster to psycho yellow's helmet. His hand shook a little.

The pink psycho ranger stood in front of blue. "What do you want, anyway? We've got it handled." She looked at yellow. "Actually, I have it handled. Yellow over here looks like she's about to get her brains blasted out."

"No, I was told to take down the yellow ranger," said Rocky.

"So, why have we been fighting him? And you've been fighting crimson? Lothor wants him."

"Lothor wants the green ranger."

"But we have our orders." Kim looked around. "As bad as they are."

Rocky glared at Kim beneath his helmet. "Whatever." He took off and headed for the other group of rangers and psychos.

"Hunter, are you okay?" asked Tori. She took advantage of the brief hesitation that the yellow and pink psychos took to run over to Hunter. Dustin closely followed, using his laser blaster to make the yellow and pink psychos take a step back.

"Hunter, get back to ninja ops," said Dustin. "I'm gonna call Cam."

"He's not answering," said Hunter. "I tried, already."

"What?" asked Tori. "Cam!" she yelled out. "We've got to hurry." She and Dustin stood protectively in front of Hunter. The yellow psycho ranger still held her dagger out, now pointing toward Tori's abdomen area. The pink psycho ranger pulled out her bow and carefully pulled back on the string with the arrow.

"Are you trying to play with us?" asked Kim. "We love games."

"Speak for yourself. I prefer to get things done quick and easy."

"Well, you've waited long enough."

Aisha glared at Kim and threw her dagger toward the rangers. Tori pushed Hunter back and landed on his injured leg. He cried out in pain as Tori scrambled to get off of it. "Sorry, Hunter!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Hunter tried to sit up. "Where's Dustin?"

Tori looked around and saw a growing puddle of blood on the ground. "Oh no, Dustin?"

Dustin was breathing in staggered breaths. He looked down at the yellow psycho's dagger in his abdomen. "Uh, I think I've been hit, guys." His eyes rolled back as he passed out.

"DUSTIN!" Tori yelled. She looked back at the others. "Shane! Blake!"

"Oh my gosh," said Hunter. He tried to stand and move in front of Dustin and Tori.

Kim and Aisha slowly approached the rangers. "You want more of that, crimson?" asked Kim. She looked over her shoulder and saw the blue and black psychos looking back at them. "You're welcome!"

Aisha stood face-to-face with Hunter. She laughed in his face. "You call yourself a Power Ranger? You can't even stand!"

Kim kicked Hunter in his injured leg. He fell and she held her Power Bow over his head. Tori glared up at Kim and Aisha. She stood up and waved her arms around, using a water blast to push them away.

Kim and Aisha laughed again. "I'll be needing my dagger back," said Aisha. "But if you want to use it on yourself, then feel free."

Angry, Tori glared at Kim and Aisha underneath her helmet again. She used a water blast against them and kept shooting them with water. Her fury was what was pushing her. She couldn't see anything, but just knew that she had to keep going. She walked past Hunter and Dustin, who were both on the ground and kept on shooting water blasts at Kim and Aisha.

They were thrown back by the repeated forces of Tori's water blasts and were growing more and more angry. They ended up alongside Rocky and Adam. "You can't handle blue?" Rocky said, pushing aside Kim and Aisha. "I've got this."

Before Rocky could react and pull out his lance, Tori shot another water blast at them. She continued to walk toward them and kept blasting water at them. Adam jumped out of the way of the Tori's water blasts. He laughed as he watched Kim, Aisha, and Rocky on their heels. He turned his attention to Jason and Tommy who were still fighting the red and navy rangers.

"Done yet?" yelled Tommy.

"Never!" Shane yelled back.

Jason kicked at him. "Give up now, red. While you still have time."

"Never!" Blake echoed. He was on the ground, but jumped up, holding his chest.

Adam laughed as he watched them.

"What?" asked Tommy, irritated. "What the hell do you want?"

Adam pointed to the crumpled pile of the yellow and crimson rangers and gestured to the blue ranger water blasting Kim, Aisha, and Rocky back.

"Oh no, Hunter!" yelled Blake.

"Dustin!" yelled Shane. The two of them ran to Dustin and Hunter's side.

Tommy and Jason looked after them and ran towards them.

"What happened?" asked Blake, kneeling next to his brother.

Shane put a hand on Dustin's abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. "What did they do to you, Dustin?"

Adam kicked at Tori, stopping her from shooting any more water blasts. He kicked at her again and threw her to the ground. Aisha, Kim, and Rocky straightened up and surrounded her, all of them pointing their weapons at Tori. Tori looked up at each of them, trembling in fear. "Fine," she yelled. "You want me? Take me!"

"Go, help her," said Hunter, gesturing to Tori. Blake looked over at Tori.

The red and silver psycho rangers slowly approached them. They also held out their weapons, pointing it to the rangers.

"Shh," Blake said.

"Help me up, Blake," said Hunter, grabbing Blake's arm.

"Wait," he said. "You could barely stand."

"Go, help Tori," Hunter protested.

"What about Cam?" asked Shane. He called for him.

"He's not answering," said Hunter. "We've already tried."

Tommy held his sword to Shane's neck. Jason held his staff to Hunter's obviously injured leg and pointed his blaster at Blake's heart. "Any last words?" Tommy asked, laughing evilly.

Shane, Hunter, Blake, and Tori didn't say anything. Since they lost their energy, their powers were draining and they powered down, unwillingly. Shane looked down at his friend and put both of his hands on Dustin's abdomen. He looked at Blake and Hunter. "He's still alive," he whispered.

"Not for long," laughed Jason. "Say goodbye to life."

Tori brushed her long, blonde hair from her eyes and stared up at the blue, black, pink, and yellow psycho rangers, defiantly. She wanted to stand, but knew that she didn't have a chance. She saw the four psychos raise their weapons and she closed her eyes in anticipation. She clenched her fists at her side and tensed up.

"Or say hello to us!" came a voice.

Blasts came all around the rangers and psychos, throwing the psycho rangers back. They were all on the ground, looking around to see who had suddenly come.

"Get away from them!" another voice came.

Tori opened her eyes, looking around. She crawled to the other rangers and crouched next to Blake, putting her hand on Blake's shoulder. "What-who-" started Tori.

"Leave my friends alone!" came another voice.

Shane, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, and Tori looked at each other. "Cam?" they all said at the same time.

Sure enough, Cam, morphed as the samurai green ranger, jumped off some sort of flying contraption. He was standing with what could only be another red ranger. The red ranger jumped off and stood next to Cam. They stood in front of the rangers, facing the psychos. Five others, all but one morphed as rangers, showed up behind Cam and the red ranger, on some sort of flying contraptions. They all jumped off and stood protectively in front of the rangers, except for one. The one who was not morphed. He ran to the injured rangers and kneeled down next to them.

"How are you guys feeling?" he gently asked.

Shane looked at him, unsure of how to respond. "Uh..."

"You're Billy," Tori said.

Billy nodded. "Yes. How are you guys? I asked the space rangers to come since they've seen the psycho powers before." He looked at Dustin. "We should get back to your guys' headquarters."

Blake nodded. "Ninja ops. But what about-" He gestured to the new rangers, Cam, and the psycho rangers.

Billy looked at them. "They'll be okay. You guys look pretty beaten up. Let's get going." He leaned down and tried to help Shane carry Dustin. "Hey, Tori, is it? Apply pressure to Dustin's wound."

Tori nodded and replaced Shane's hand with her own. She tore off the bottom of her shirt and held it to Dustin, to soak up the blood. "We'll take care of you, Dustin," she said softly.

Blake helped Hunter stand up, forcing him to lean against Blake's shoulder. "You okay, man?"

"I'll be fine," Hunter answered.

"Come on," Billy said. "We've got to go. He's losing a lot of blood."

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Tommy looked at the new arrivals with disdain. He stood in line with his fellow psycho rangers, each of them holding their weapons out.

"Well," said Kim. "What do we do, leader?"

He glared at her beneath his helmet. She always knew exactly how to push his buttons. But then again, she also knew exactly how to make him feel better. And worse, come to think of it. He shook off his thoughts, looking at the newcomers.

"Who are you?" he asked. "We have no use for you. But if you turn over the green ranger (Tommy pointed his sword at Cam) and the others, we will be lenient on you all."

"Tommy, I know that's you in there!" the red ranger yelled, taking a step forward. "And I know that you would never fight for evil! You've got to find yourself!"

Tommy's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. He didn't recognize this new voice, although the red ranger obviously knew who he was.

"Yeah, Tommy," said the blue ranger. "We're your friends." He held up his hands. "We mean you no harm."

"Well, then, you're out of luck, aren't you?" yelled Jason. He held his staff in front of him.

"Cuz it doesn't matter if we're after you or not," added Rocky. "If you're in our way, we'll take you out!"

Kim gripped her Power Bow and pointed it toward the green ranger. "Come on, green. You're meant to be evil. It's in the color."

"What's that supposed to mean?" came the defiant response from the green ranger.

Kim was at a loss for words. She wasn't sure exactly where it came from, but just had some sort of feeling that equated green with evil. She half-glanced at Tommy, half-hoping that he would say something to bail her out.

"Come with us, green ranger," Tommy said in a low, dangerous voice. "And we'll tell you where your father is."

At this, the green ranger took a step forward. The psychos each took a step forward in anticipation. The red ranger put his hand on the green ranger's shoulder. "Wait!" he said. "You can't go with them! What if it's a trap?"

The green ranger looked back at the red ranger. "I can't risk leaving my father in danger. If Lothor has been the one who captured him...he's the only family I have."

"And if they are luring you with information of your father?"

"If you come quietly, we won't kill him," said Jason. "At least, not right at this moment."

The green ranger looked between them and the other rangers, all of whom he'd arrived with. The other ninja rangers were long gone by now, leaving with some human who was not even morphed.

"No, Cam, you can't go."

"I have to save my father."

"Oh, this is really getting ridiculous," said Adam. "Why are we just standing around for?". He pulled out his blaster and started shooting at the rangers.

They took cover behind the fallen debris. None of them even popped their heads out. Kim and Rocky followed Adam's lead and pulled out their blasters and started shooting.

"If you come out, green, we'll stop shooting!" yelled Rocky.

Tommy and Jason nodded to the three of them and they slowly appoached the pile of debris that the rangers were hiding behind.

"All right, all right!" The green ranger emerged from behind the pile of debris with his hands raised. "I'll come with you. But you must let me see my father." He allowed Rocky and Adam to grab him and pull him towards Jason and Tommy. The other rangers jumped up from behind the debris.

"Who said we even know where your father is?" Tommy said, evilly. He laughed.

"But you said," protested the green ranger, starting to twist in the arms of Rocky and Adam. "That you'll tell me-"

Jason laughed. "It's called a lie, stupid green ranger. Or are you way too much of a goody-two-shoes to know what that is?

The green ranger looked back, helplessly at the other rangers. Adam and Rocky each held on to either side of him and they disappeared in three beams of light-black, green, and blue.

"I guess that just leaves us, doesn't it." Tommy cracked his knuckles and got into position. Jason held his staff in front of him, while Kim plucked the string of her bow and Aisha twirled the one dagger that she still had in one hand.

"Oh, this'll be fun!" exclaimed Kim. She laughed and took a step forward.

"What do we do?" asked the blue ranger. "We can't really fight them-they're all old rangers!

In a split second, just as the psycho rangers were about to charge the rangers, they disappeared in beams of red, pink, silver, and yellow.

* * *

Tori sat next to Dustin's unconscious body and sighed softly. She used a wet washcloth to lay on Dustin's forehead and didn't move when she felt someone come up next to her and sit down.

"Is he okay?" asked Blake. He put an arm around Tori's shoulders.

Tori shrugged. "I'm not sure. He's still alive, though." She looked at Blake. "How's Hunter?"

He gestured to his brother. "Trying to walk. I think his leg's broken, though. Billy put it up in a splint." They looked over at Hunter, who was limping around. Blake looked at Tori. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She shook Blake's arm off of her shoulders. "I'll be fine."

"Your arm?"

"Just a graze, it barely broke skin."

"You sure, Tori? If you're hurt-"

Tori shook her head. "I'm fine." She smiled at Blake. "I am." She stood up and gathered around the computer, where Billy, Cam, and Shane were. "What's going on over here?" she asked. Blake followed her, trying to force his brother to sit down.

"The psycho rangers disappeared," answered Shane. He looked up at Tori. "I don't know why. But they took Cam."

"What!" Tori and Blake looked at each other in shock.

In a flash of light, six rangers appeared. They powered down and for the first time, Tori, Shane, Blake, and Hunter laid their eyes on their rescuers. They stood up into a line and faced the six rangers.

"Thank you," Tori started. "I don't know-"

"They took your friend," the red ranger stated.

Billy cleared his throat as he stood up, also. "We can talk ranger business, but how about some introductions, first?" He looked at Tori, Shane, Blake, and Hunter and gestured to the six rangers that stood behind him. "These are the space rangers; the ones I told you about. They've seen the psycho powers before." He pointed to the red ranger. "This is Andros." Andros nodded to them. "Zhane, TJ, Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie." Each of them waved to the ninja rangers as Billy said their names.

"The psycho rangers are more powerful," Andros said.

Tori and Shane looked at each other worriedly before looking at Dustin. Hunter leaned on his brother to take some weight off of his injured leg. "Why do you think they wear uniforms?" he whispered to Blake.

Blake looked at the rangers and saw that they were all dressed in gray pants with black boots and a gray jacket over a t-shirt of their respective ranger colors. He shrugged in response. "How are they more powerful?" Blake asked.

"They have the strength of the psycho powers," answered Billy. "And also the power of the morphing grid. These people...they weren't chosen at random. All of them are former rangers. And since they are former rangers, Kim and Jason are actually two of the original rangers, they are tied to the Power. And Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Tommy, and Kim...they also have the power of the Ninjetti spirit animals of Phaedos."

"So...we're pretty much screwed," said Blake.

"Former rangers?" asked Tori incredulously. "How could they do this?"

Billy shrugged and shook his head. "My friends...my old friends...this isn't them. I know they're under a spell. And it can be broken. Tommy actually became a member of our old team after Jason, who is now apparently the silver psycho ranger, broke the spell he was under."

"What? He's evil?"

"Billy, I think we should give these newbies a quick ranger history lesson, first, right?" said TJ. "Maybe it'll help them understand a bit more."

Billy nodded. "Sure, that sounds good."

"Why don't you guys take a seat?" asked TJ.

Shane's eyes flashed in irritation. He didn't like being told to sit in his own headquarters. "What about Cam?" he asked.

"We'll look for him," said Andros. He looked at Zhane and nodded to the computer. "Zhane." Zhane nodded and followed him and the two of them sat at the desk while Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos joined TJ and Billy.

Shane, Tori, Blake, and Hunter reluctantly sat down and faced the others.

"Well, I don't remember if I have already told you," said Billy, "but I was the first blue Earth ranger. It was me, Kim, Jason, and two of our other friends, Zack Taylor and Trini Kwan. Kim was pink, Jason was red, our leader, Zack was the black ranger and Trini was the yellow ranger. Tommy came in later and at first, he was under a spell. He was the evil green ranger and he damn near almost destroyed us. But Jason was actually the one who helped Tommy break the spell and Tommy agreed to join forces with us to fight evil. He fought with us until he lost his powers."

"How'd he lose his powers?" asked Shane.

"Rita had a green candle, which was connected to Tommy's powers. Rita was our time's Lothor," explained Billy, seeing the confused looks on their faces. "She was the one who actually recruited Tommy to being a ranger. She was the one who gave him the green ranger powers." Billy exhaled and looked at everyone, noticing their attention. He continued his story when nobody said anything. "So Tommy lost his green ranger powers and Zordon...who was our mentor, the one who gave us our powers, and Alpha, his assistant, created white ranger powers, which they had given to Tommy. Um..." Billy squinted his eyes, trying to remember. "Oh! Jason, Trini, and Zack were selected to attend a Peace Conference and Adam, Aisha, and Rocky stepped in and became the new rangers."

"So how have you guys already seen the psycho powers?" asked Blake, looking at TJ, Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos.

"When Tommy and Adam and the others decided to leave the team, they chose us to take their place," answered TJ. He gestured to himself and his teammates. "And we met Andros and Zhane after we lost our Turbo powers and Andros gave us the space morphers. Astronema, our 'Lothor'," TJ used air quotes around this, "came up with the psycho rangers and we thought we had finished them. And then they ended up on Mironoi and we thought we got rid of them then, too." TJ gestured with his hands. "And that's pretty much the short version of the ranger history lesson."

"We got rid of the being," said Andros, joining the conversation. "Not the essence, and especially, not the power. Obviously."

"So how do we get rid of them?" asked Hunter, carefully moving his leg.

"We don't get rid of them," answered Andros. "Those are human beings in there. Former rangers. They're good people."

"Oh yeah." Hunter pointed to Dustin. Ashley and Cassie were at his bedside. "Because good people do that."

"They're under a spell," said Billy. "They've been turned evil, but their true essence is not. If you destroy them, you destroy the people."

"So, why have they been chosen?" asked Tori. "We thought it was because they were all old friends-we looked it up online or something."

Billy nodded. "Well, the obvious connection is that they're rangers. I don't know why just those six were 'chosen' or whatever. I think our priority should be to turn them good again. Release them from their spell."

"_And _find Cam and Sensei," replied Tori, testily.

Billy nodded. "Of course." He looked at Zhane. "Have you found anything yet, Zhane?"

Zhane nodded in response. "Cam's safe, for now. He's locked up in some sort of cell on...something." He gestured to the screen that showed Cam sitting on the ground of a dark cell.

"What could they want with Cam?" asked Blake.

"I don't know," said Shane. "But we've got to get him back."

Tori shook her head and took a seat next to Dustin. "Should we bring him to a hospital?"

"No!" answered Cassie and Ashley. "They'll just ask too many questions that none of us can answer," continued Cassie.

"But..."

"Billy set him up pretty well here," said Ashley. "Dustin looks stable and he's got some coloring back in his face. The blood transfusion worked." Ashley leaned over and gave Tori a tight hug. "I think he'll be fine."

In spite of herself, Tori felt tears spring to her eyes. "What if he's not?" she said in a panicky voice. "What if Dustin's not okay and we can't get Cam back and we can't find Sensei and we can't help your friends be good again?"

"Hey, _don't_ you dare think like that, okay?" Ashley rubbed Tori's back. "What if Dustin's okay? What if we get Cam back? Your sensei? And Tommy and the others do turn good."

"And hey, just don't think about it, okay?" said Cassie. "Just focus on getting through the next day. These psycho powers are tough. And them being former rangers...makes it even more tough."

"Andros said they were more powerful?" said Tori.

Cassie and Ashley looked at each other and nodded. "Unfortunately, yeah, they are." Cassie stood up and lightly shook Tori around her shoulders. "But, we'll be here as long as you need us to help you guys get through this."

Tori exhaled, wiping her face and shaking her head.

* * *

"Who were they?" Lothor asked in a deep, low voice.

"We could have taken them if we stayed," replied Tommy in an equally deep voice.

"Who were they?" Lothor repeated. He threw something at the wall, causing everyone except for four of the psycho rangers to flinch and jump. He looked around for Marah and Kapri. "More rangers? WHO WERE THEY?"

"We don't know, Uncle!" exclaimed Marah.

"We've never seen them before in our lives!" added Kapri.

"Where is my nephew?" Lothor asked.

"Blue and black have him in the cells," answered Marah.

"Bring him in!"

Marah disappeared and a few short moments later, Rocky and Adam appeared, dragging Cam by his arms. Cam was no longer morphed and his green amulet was dangling from Rocky's hand. His hands were tied behind his back and Rocky and Adam threw him to the ground, where he knelt before Lothor.

Lothor laughed, taking the amulet from Rocky's hand. He circled around Cam slowly as the unmorphed psycho rangers smirked nearby. "Oh, my dear nephew. My plan is working perfectly."

"You will never get away with this!" yelled Cam. "And you are no uncle of mine!"

Lothor laughed again. "As I was saying...my plan is working perfectly. However, it seems there is a bump in the road. Who are the new rangers?"

Cam laughed. "Why? Are you afraid of them?"

Lothor struck Cam across the face. "I have no reason to be afraid of them. Why should I? I have my own brand of rangers here." Lothor carefully put the amulet around his neck and leaned down, taking Cam's face into his hand. He forced him to look at the rangers. "You see them? Those are the most powerful people on this planet."

Cam struggled against Lothor's grip. "No. The ninja rangers are."

"No. You've seen what my rangers did to your rangers." Lothor breathed heavily on Cam's cheek. He clenched Cam's face tighter, leaving nail marks along his cheek. "They are the most powerful beings on Earth. My rangers...they used to be one of you guys, you know." Cam tried to hide his surprise. "Oh yeah, you didn't know that? Yes, yes. They used to be Power Rangers, fighting for the power of good. And now look...take the Power away for a few years, throw in some bitterness, anger, and hatred; equip them with powers and you've got the best forces of evil there is." Lothor laughed. "Oh, and they have been specially chosen because they are the most powerful former rangers. Yes, I know there have been a number of ranger teams. But them..." Lothor used a free hand to gesture to them. "They're the best. And I only want the best." Cam struggled again. "You see her, the one in yellow? She's the keeper of the Ninjetti Bear spirit. That one, in blue, is the keeper of the Ninjetti Ape spirit. And is infused with the powers of the Zeo crystal. The one in black is the keeper of the Ninjetti Frog spirit. And also has the powers of the Zeo crystal. That cute little one in pink...she is the keeper of the Ninjetti Crane spirit and that of the ancient Pteradactyl. And the one in red is the keeper of the Ninjetti Falcon spirit and, like blue and black, has the powers of the Zeo crystal. I would have liked to have the whole Ninjetti set, the Ninjetti spirits are, after all, the most powerful beings in the entire universe." Lothor frowned. "I'm missing the Ninjetti Wolf spirit. But, nothing wrong with that, for you see..." Lothor tightened his grip on Cam's face. "The one in silver. He was the first red ranger. Keeper of the Tyrannosaurus spirit. And while that isn't as powerful as the Ninjetti spirit, it is power nonetheless. And besides, he was the gold ranger for a bit, holding the powers for Trey of Triforia. And those powers enhance the Tyrannosaurus spirit that he owns." Lothor laughed again and threw Cam's face from his hand. "I will destroy your friends, one by one. Right before your very eyes."

"Where is my father?"

Lothor smirked. "Take him away!" he commanded. Adam and Rocky stepped forward and grabbed Cam by his arms. They dragged him away to the cell again.

"To lure the new rangers, we wish to-" started Tommy.

"No!" yelled Lothor. "We will let them think that they have peace. For now, at least."

Kim scoffed. "Are you showing compassion? The yellow ranger is down, the fake red ranger is injured. We have them where we want them."

"Leave!"

Each of the psycho rangers headed in different directions. Tommy was the last to leave Lothor's lair. He waited until all the others disappeared from his sight and then decided to leave. He searched for a place where he could be by himself. These other rangers were giving him a headache. His so-called teammates and the others, the ones that he vowed to destroy.

Tommy thought back to the pink psycho ranger. He felt like he was walking on eggshells around her. Every time he hears her speak or sees the flip of her hair, he just wanted to tear off his ears and gouge his eyes out. Because every time he heard her speak and every time he saw her, he could literally feel his heart breaking. And Tommy did not want to be that vulnerable to anybody ever again. After Kim, he briefly dated Katherine. But he never truly loved or even liked her. Sure, they were teammates and of course, Tommy had cared for her (if he even remembered what that felt like), but she never sparked him the way her predecessor did. Now that he thinks about, it was probably only the color pink that attracted him to her in the first place. He knew that she knew that Tommy never really felt anything real for her, but he didn't care. The only person that he was concerned with now was himself. Because everyone always left him or let him down in some way or another. His biological parents gave him up for adoption. His parents constantly reminded him that he needed to get married because they wanted grandchildren. His friends-if that's what they ever were-no longer spoke to him. All he felt now was a big giant hole of emptiness and despair. And Tommy was best left wallowing in it.

* * *

There's that chapter! What do you all think?

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Aisha sat down on a chair and closed her eyes, trying to get some rest. She was angry that she had not been able to retrieve her dagger and now the rangers had it. She sat there for a long time, thinking of ways to try to get it back. Aisha rolled her eyes, remembering how Kim nearly hit her with an arrow from her Power Bow. She resolved to get her back for that. Even if it meant a little slip of her other dagger.

She thought back to throwing her other dagger at the yellow ranger. She grinned wickedly remembering how quick the yellow ranger fell and how quick the blood pooled out of his abdomen. He was a little too cheery for her. She wondered if he had survived the blow and hoped that he didn't. With the yellow ranger out of the way, the faster they could get rid of the others. And hey, since she was the one who dealt the fatal blow, Aisha would be the one who would receive all the glory. And she could be the leader. She laughed out loud.

"What are you laughing about?" asked Kim, walking in.

"None of your business!" Aisha replied. She stood up and headed out of the room.

Kim narrowed her eyes as she watched Aisha leave. _"What is she planning?"_ Kim thought to herself. She sat down where Aisha had sat earlier and tried to come up with what Aisha was planning. She wanted to try and step in and take whatever credit Aisha was going to get. She figured that if the yellow ranger died from his wounds, she'd be all over the wall, rubbing it in their faces. Kim clenched her fist and thought about the blue ranger.

For some reason, the blue ranger got on her nerves. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but that blue ranger, and especially that navy ranger, just got on her nerves. In the far back of her mind, they sort of reminded Kim of herself and Tommy.

Kim shook her head, trying to remove that thought from her mind. When she saw Tommy, all she felt now was hurt and anger, both at herself and him. _"Why didn't he care enough?" _she thought. _"Why didn't he come after me? Why did I write that stupid thing in the first place?"_ It didn't matter now. What's done is done and there is obviously no going back. Tommy hated her and Kim couldn't blame him. She knew he couldn't leave the rangers and at this very moment, Kim was feeling very selfish. _"Why did I choose her?"_ she thought. _"Why didn't he love me enough? Why did I feel so alone?"_ Kim exhaled loudly, rubbing her temples.

She hated living in the past. There was nothing that could change it. And she hated relying on people other than herself. Because at the end of the day, nobody ever really cares. And people always leave. Her dad. Her brother. Her mom. Jason, Trini, and Zack. Hell, even she left people that she thought she cared about. Aisha, Adam, Rocky, Billy...and Tommy. So, in a way, Kim guessed that a lot of her anger and hurt was her fault. And there was no way that she could get over that.

So the new rangers will just have to take the brunt of her anger. Especially that blue ranger and that navy ranger.

"What do you want?" she said, seeing the blue psycho ranger walk in the room and take a seat near her.

Rocky looked at her and his red eyes flashed in anger. "None of your business," he replied.

"Well, this room's taken."

Rocky shrugged his shoulders as he put up his feet. "I don't mind."

"Well, I do."

"So go find yourself another hideaway."

"I was here first. You go."

"You're the one with the problem. I have no problem whatsoever and you can go on and leave if you want."

"Get the hell out of this room!"

"You get the hell out of this room!"

"Ugh!" Kim groaned loudly and jumped up, purposely swinging her hand at Rocky's head. Rocky dodged Kim's hit and as she angrily stomped out of the room, she could hear Rocky laughing in a mocking way.

Rocky watched her leave. He sighed as he intertwined his hands behind his head and leaned back on his chair. In some strange way, Rocky was glad to be back with his friends. But he was also angry at them. So angry that he could barely see straight sometimes.

He was always forgotten by them. That much he knew. He was a red ranger, sure he wasn't the leader of the team, Saint Tommy had to fill that role, but he was still a red ranger, nonetheless.

So why didn't Tommy call him for that red ranger mission on the moon?

Rocky couldn't remember where or who he heard it from, but he knew there was a red ranger moon mission. And he heard that Tommy was the leader of that mission. And even Jason came back for it. Jason, the same Jason who seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth after the Turbo rangers saved him and Kimberly from Divatox. And Jason, the same Jason who he replaced and who then replaced him. Rocky guessed that that's just the way karma works. Since he took Jason's place as the red ranger, it was only fitting that Jason took his place on the team when he came back as the gold ranger.

And Tommy. Rocky wasn't just angry at him, he was pissed. Tommy stole his best friend from him. Rocky and Adam had done everything together. And then Adam became the green ranger and second-in-command and all of a sudden, there was no room for Rocky. Instead, it was always Adam and Tommy. Then Jason came and it was the three of them.

Rocky's eyes flashed red, remembering that Tommy had forgotten that he was a red ranger, too. And so Rocky gets left out again. He still had the red ranger power of the Ninjetti. So why wasn't he invited to the party?

Angry, Rocky jumped up and kicked his chair across the room. An image of Aisha flashed through his mind. He felt his eyes tear up and he balled up his fists and banged it against the wall. And Aisha...she left him. Didn't even think about him or anyone else. She just up and moved to a different continent. And for what? To help a bunch of sick animals? He shook his head. Obviously, a crapload of sick animals mattered more than he did. And what happened after that? He got new powers and was demoted from red ranger to blue ranger. Not even to second-in-command!

Rocky exhaled loudly. He gave the chair one last kick and walked out of the room, nearly bumping into Adam.

"Was that you making all that noise?" Adam asked.

"Shut up." Rocky shoved Adam out of the way with his shoulder.

Adam's eyes flashed red as he shoved Rocky back. "What the hell, man?"

"Shut up," Rocky said again. "Why don't you go hang out with your best friends?"

"What!" Adam looked angry and confused as Rocky walked away. He stared after Rocky. "What the hell is his problem?" he asked out loud to no one in particular.

"Maybe you are." Tommy showed up out of nowhere and smirked at Adam.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Oh, why don't you shut up!" Adam angrily stomped away, thinking about how angry he was feeling. He didn't even know why he was so angry. All he knew was that when he saw his old friends again, at first he was actually a little bit excited, maybe even a little happy. But now...he just wanted to rip them to shreds. Get that smug look off of Jason's face. Break all the bones in Tommy's hand. Kick Rocky senselessly until he begged for mercy. And ignore Aisha and Kimberly as if they did not exist. Just as they did when they both moved away from Angel Grove.

He tried to keep in touch with them. Both of them. He wrote Kim weekly and tried to call her at least once a month to see how she was doing. He felt like they were becoming good friends. But she never replied. The only thing he ever read from her was that letter that she had written to Tommy.

With Aisha, he made a bit more of an effort. After all, they had known each other since they were children. Adam would stay up late and call at times when he was certain that Aisha was awake. He would save up his money to buy calling cards to Africa every week and even sent some care packages to Aisha so she wouldn't forget about them. But it was obvious that she had. He hadn't heard from her since they were turned into children by Master Vile, Rita's father.

So he just didn't try anymore. With anybody.

Adam prowled the halls, looking for something to do. He was trying to avoid Lothor's two annoying nieces. All they did around him was blabber on and on about how they were excited to have new family members and all. Gosh, he knew he always tried hard at trying to find someplace he belonged, but he hoped he wasn't as irritating as these two girls.

He passed by Cam's cell and saw the green ranger on the ground, holding a hand to his face.

"He...help...he...hel...help me..." he coughed out, seeing Adam pass by.

Adam stopped in front of him and watched him for a bit. "Why should I?"

"Ppp...puh...please."

"You're pathetic, green ranger," said Adam. "I know what you're thinking. You're trapped here and you're waiting for your friends to come and save you. Well, here's news for you: your friends...they don't really care. Nobody really does. Everyone just leaves you and ignore you and act as if you don't exist. Because you don't."

Adam spit on the ground and continued walking.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jason stepped out of the shadows and stood in front of Adam.

"What's it to you?" he retorted.

"You think you'll be Lothor's favorite if you go down and destroy the rangers yourself, don't you? You've always had some weird thing about you. Giving up practically everything so people'll like you. So people will be your friend." Jason laughed and his eyes flashed red. "How'd that work for you? Or can every _friend_ you've ever had been prone to wear one color or another for a long period of time?" He stood toe-to-toe with Adam. "You should've just stayed in Stone Canyon. Then we wouldn't have had to give up our powers to you. I would've been leader longer and I would've been the most powerful ranger alive."

"Shut up, Jason. You didn't even give me your powers."

"Maybe not. But that's only because I can find that ape man anywhere around. So I guess you'll have to do."

"For what?"

Jason raised a fist in Adam's face and swung it, but stopped a couple of centimeters from his nose. He laughed, seeing Adam's eyes close suddenly, preparing for the hit. "Can't even defend yourself." He shook his head, walking backwards. "And you call yourself a ranger..." Jason laughed again, taunting Adam. He waved his fist around and punched himself in the chin. "Better watch out, Black. Never know who's in the shadows."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think. I know there's not really much action going on in this chapter, but I wanted to show that even though they're evil, the psycho rangers still had their human emotions and thoughts. Just leaning a bit more towards the dark side.


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Adam balled his fists at his sides as he watched Jason walk away. He was growing more and more irritated with the others and could not stand to even be around them. He paced up and down the dark hallway for a bit, hearing Lothor talk amongst his generals and Tommy and Jason.

_"Figures," _he thought. _"Of course Tommy and Jason would be in on all the plans."_ He stopped pacing and looked out a window. _"Well, I'll just make my own plan, then."_

Adam stealthily sneaked down the hall. He saw Marah and Kapri's shadow coming toward him and he hid in a smaller hallway, scrunched against the wall. He hoped his dark clothing wouldn't betray his position and as soon as they passed by, Adam stepped out of his hiding place and snuck down the rest of the hallway.

"Where are you going?" asked Aisha, her voice traced with anger.

"Nowhere," he curtly replied. He continued walking and could feel Aisha right behind him.

"You look like you're about to do something." Aisha hurried to walk next to him. "Let me come with you."

Adam stopped walking and turned to face her, hitting his hand against the wall. "I'm not on my way to do anything. So get the hell away from me!" he yelled, close to her face.

He didn't seem to faze Aisha and she hurried after him as he angrily walked away. "No way. I know you better than anybody else, Adam. Except for maybe...Rocky. But where are you going? I wanna come!"

Adam punched the wall and turned back toward Aisha. "I said, stay the hell away from me!"

"Actually, you said to get the hell away from you. And I'm not gonna do that until you let me in on your plan."

"Who says I have a plan? Huh? I sure as hell don't remember telling you anything."

"Oh, go to hell, Adam," Aisha angrily said, stomping away.

"Yeah, I'll see you there!" he called after her.

Adam turned and walked toward one of the main rooms. He found it empty, but saw a screen set up that showed the rangers, out of uniform. They seemed to be hanging around some sort of shop.

* * *

"So, where did you guys say Dustin was?" Kelly was asking.

Tori, Shane and Blake exchanged a look. "He's not feeling well," answered Tori. "The flu, I think it is. It seems to be going around."

Kelly nodded. "I hope he feels better soon, then. It's a little quiet without him around. And I can't believe Hunter broke his leg."

"Yeah," said Blake. "It was a bad fall. He didn't have me around to show him how it was supposed to be done."

Kelly nodded again and headed behind the cash register. Tori, Shane, and Blake huddled together and spoke in soft voices.

"I feel bad being out here," Tori said. "I want to head back to Ninja Ops and help Billy and the other rangers. And check up on Dustin and Hunter."

"Yeah, but Tori, Billy said we have to go about our lives as if nothing happened," said Shane. "And he's right. Or else people will start getting suspicious."

"And besides, Billy said he'd call with any news on Dustin or the psychos," added Blake.

"What do you think of them?" Tori said, taking a seat. "Of Billy and the space rangers?"

Blake shrugged, sitting next to Tori. "I'm glad they're here. Otherwise, we'd be screwed. Big time."

Shane nodded, taking a seat across from them. He leaned forward, still talking softly. "I'm glad they're here, too...but...I don't know. I wish we were strong enough that we didn't need their help."

"Me too. I don't know why we can't just destroy them. If we destroy them, we destroy the power, don't we?"

"But, Blake, they're people," said Tori. "They're not the usual monsters that come from...hell, I don't even know where they come from, but...they're people. They used to be rangers. Some of them were the first rangers. We're living their legacy."

"Some legacy," scoffed Shane. "Destroy the Power Rangers as their final touch?"

"They're under a spell, Shane!"

"I know," he replied. "That's what makes it so hard. I want to hate them for what they've done...but...I know-"

"It's not them," finished Blake. "Especially since they were rangers." The three of them were silent for a bit as they heard Kelly talking to someone. Each of them were lost in their own thoughts until they heard a familiar sound.

"We better head back," said Shane. Tori and Blake nodded. "Kelly, we're going out."

Kelly nodded to them. "Hey, put a smile on your faces! It's a beautiful day out!"

"We'll try," said Blake.

"Tell Hunter and Dustin I hope they feel better."

* * *

Adam wickedly smiled as he pressed his fingers together. So, the yellow and crimson ranger were hurt. That put those two out of the running. He knew the green ranger was locked up a few doors down. So he was out of the picture. That leaves the red, blue, and navy rangers. Why the hell were there two rangers with the same color anyway? Same thing with that red and crimson. Red's red and that's all there is to it. Same thing with blue.

He watched the screen in interest. The three remaining rangers were headed back to their headquarters. He knew that if he had any chance, he would have to take those three out first and then deal with the other rangers. But, exactly, how would he do that?

* * *

"What's up, Billy?" Tori asked, running into Ninja Ops with Blake and Shane. They looked around and saw Andros, Billy, and TJ poring over the computer.

Billy looked up at them and nodded toward Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos. Tori followed their gaze and saw Hunter talking to someone.

"Hey guys!" Ashley said, waving them over. "Dustin's awake. He's asking for you guys."

Tori, Shane, and Blake hurried over to Dustin's bedside. Hunter moved a bit, making room for them. Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos backed away from them, giving them some form of privacy. Ashley gave Tori a half-hug before heading toward Andros and Billy.

"How you feeling, Dustin?"

Dustin looked at each of his friends, trying to give them a reassuring smile. "I-fi-fine...hur-hurts..."

"Let me get you some water, dude," said Blake. He looked at his brother. "You want some, too?"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, thanks. How's Kelly?"

"She was asking about you guys."

"What did you tell her?"

Blake shrugged, handing Hunter a cup of water. "You had a motocross accident and he has the flu." He sat down next to Dustin and tried to help him up to take a sip of the water.

Dustin, holding his abdomen, tried to nod toward the group of people that were gathered around Cam's computer. Shane followed his gaze and knew that Dustin was wondering what was going on.

"They're the space rangers," Shane said. "They saved us in that last battle against the psycho rangers." He, Tori, Blake, and Hunter filled Dustin in on everything that had gone on following the time when Dustin was hit by the dagger. Shane held it up, almost as proof. "And we got her dagger. Whether or not that means anything."

"It means she must be pissed as hell," said Hunter. "I know I'd be if my weapons were gone."

Blake nodded towards the space rangers and Billy. "What are they doing, anyway?"

Hunter shrugged. "I don't really know. The only thing I understood was that they're trying to find Sensei, and figure out how or if they can somehow get the psycho rangers out from the spell they're under. Billy said it was going to be difficult since they were dropped into the Abyss of Evil, so it may not even be a full-on spell...or something like that. I didn't really understand and my leg started to hurt, so I stopped paying attention."

"I wonder if there's anything we can do to help," replied Tori. She looked at the space rangers and Billy, who all seemed hard at work and looked back at herself and the rest of her teammates, who were just sitting in the background, waiting around for the other rangers to tell them something.

"If we can even help," said Shane. "We barely made it through the battle on our own."

"How are you feeling, Dustin?" Ashley asked, approaching him and the others. She put a hand on his forehead and smiled at him. "I'm Ashley Hammond, the yellow space ranger. Billy," she pointed to him, "was able to stop the bleeding, although you did lose a lot. Just take it easy, okay. Don't talk unless you really have to, try not to move." She smiled at him and at the rest of the rangers. "I know that you all want to catch up, but...Dustin does need his rest. You guys must be starving. Why don't you all grab something to eat? I have a funny feeling that none of you have eaten yet. Go, get something. You'll need your energy."

"But...what about Dustin?" asked Tori. She looked apologetically at him.

"We'll take care of him."

"I feel bad leaving you again," she said, facing him. Dustin gave Tori a look, telling her to go ahead and leave. He tried his best to smile at his other teammates. She nodded and leaned down to try to give him a hug. Shane and Blake tapped him on the shoulder as they headed out and Hunter nodded to Dustin before limping after them. Tori gave one last smile before following the others. She looked at Ashley. "If anything...with Cam or Sensei."

"Of course, we'll let you know," said Ashley. "We're working on it."

Tori pursed her lips together and gave Ashley a small smile. "Thank you."

* * *

Adam gave his surroundings a look. He had snuck off Lothor's lair to Blue Bay Harbor, hoping to catch the rangers by themselves, without their newfound friends. He knew exactly where he wanted to go, but wasn't sure how long he would have to wait.

He headed into one direction, not even sure if it was the right way. But he figured he'd make it there sometime. He walked off, seeing a sign in the distance. "Storm Chargers," Adam said to himself. He grinned wickedly and looked at his reflection in a store's window. He adjusted his black leather jacket, not feeling the heat of the sun, and ran his fingers through his short hair. He looked at his jeans and the black shirt he wore underneath his jacket and figured that he would fit in. Maybe get a few weird looks for his leather jacket, but Adam could deal with that.

He took his time walking toward the store and opened the door slowly, looking around. He rifled through a few of the clothing racks and picked up a few things before putting them back.

"Hi there, how are you?"

Adam looked around and saw a red-haired lady smiling at him. He tried to smile back, but it came out as some sort of wince instead. He nodded at her.

"Is there anything I can help you find?"

Adam shook his head. "I'm just going to look around." He saw the lady look a little taken aback at the sound of his voice. Sometimes, he didn't even recognize his own voice...this new deeper, almost robotic voice he had.

"Well, okay, then. Just let me know if you need any help or anything."

Adam nodded in response. He didn't see any of the rangers here, but he would just wait. Adam took his time as he looked around some more. The store was filling up with young people, but none of whom he wanted.

He walked around some more and saw a few motocross bikes. Adam ran his fingers along a solid black one with green lining and leaned into it, pretending to examine it closely.

"Looks good, huh?"

Adam looked up from the bike and saw the red-haired lady standing next to him. His eyes flashed in irritation and he saw the lady take a step back. "Yeah," he replied.

She gave him a small, wary smile and looked back, seeing a few familiar faces walk in. "Okay," she said to Adam. "Again, just let me know if you need anything."

He nodded to her, not taking his eyes off of the bike.

"Hunter! It's great to see you!" Adam heard her say loudly. He crouched behind the bike and saw the teenagers that he'd been waiting for. "How are you feeling?"

"Hi Kelly," the Hunter boy answered. He was being helped by that other boy, an Asian one, with spiky hair. Hunter gave Kelly an awkward hug. "I'm...hanging in there, I guess."

"And Dustin?"

"He's, um, doing better than before," a blonde girl answered. Adam watched them from behind the bike. "He's still pretty sick, but...better than before."

"Are you guys okay? You look like...I don't know...troubled, I guess. I've never seen you all so quiet and sad."

"We're okay," another person answered.

Adam looked at him and saw the red shirt he was wearing. _"Hmm...red ranger," _he thought. "_You will be the first to go."_

"All right, well...come on in, you guys." The red-haired lady gestured them in to the store and helped the Hunter boy and his brother sit down.

Adam stood up and faced them. "I'd like some help, whenever you get a chance, Miss."

The four teenagers snapped back once they heard the voice. Adam gave them all an evil smile.

"Kelly, I'll take care of this," the red ranger said. "You just go...and..."

"Help Hunter," added the Asian boy.

The red-haired lady nodded to them and sat down next to Hunter. Hunter kept looking at his friends and his brother and Adam.

"Can we **help** you with something?" the red ranger asked, standing almost toe-to-toe with Adam. The Asian kid and the blonde girl stood next to the red ranger, almost closing in on Adam.

Adam shrugged. "I'm interested in this bike." He laid a hand on the black one that he was looking at.

"It's not for sale."

Adam gestured around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was a store and wanted my business."

"I should've been clear. It's not for sale to you."

Adam nodded and looked around. "And exactly why is it not for sale to me?"

"We know who you are," the blonde girl softly said, leaning up to Adam.

"Oh really? And who is that?"

"Adam Park."

Adam wickedly grinned. "I don't know an Adam Park. You must be mistaking me for someone else."

"Fine," said the Asian kid, angrily. "Then you're the evil black psycho ranger. Does that sound more familiar to you?"

"Well, Power Rangers," Adam replied, "then you should know that you will all be destroyed."

"We should call Billy," said the blonde girl. The red ranger nodded to her and she ran to the back room as the red ranger and the Asian kid stepped closer to Adam, on either side of him.

"Now, now, kids," Adam said. "You've invaded my personal space." He raised his arms at his side. "And I don't think I like it." He shoved the two, laughing as they knocked over two of the clothing racks.

"Hey!" the red-haired lady yelled, standing up. "What's going on over here?"

Adam smiled at her. "I'm sorry, ma'am. But these two made me feel a little uncomfortable. Invaded my personal space. Even said that bike wasn't for sale."

"Shane! Blake!" she scolded. She looked at Adam. "That's still not a reason why you had to lay a hand on them." She pointed to the door. "I'm sorry, Sir, but you have to leave."

Adam laughed out loud. "I'll leave." He looked at the two on the ground. "But I'll be waiting." Adam pointed to the door and walked toward the door, stopping in front of Hunter and kicking him in the leg. He laughed, hearing Hunter yell out in pain. "See ya, boys!"

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Tori heard some yelling, but didn't move from her spot in the back room. She was holding her wrist up to her mouth, quietly speaking into her morpher. "Billy, it's Adam. He showed up in the store. And now...I think he's causing some sort of commotion."

"Can you get him to stay? Maybe I could talk to him or something. I'll be right down."

"I'll try." Tori winced, hearing a crash. "I've got to go."

"Try to keep him there, but don't fight him unless he starts it."

She heard Hunter yell and someone laughing. Tori ran from behind the counter and saw Blake and Shane on the ground, amidst a pile of clothes. Hunter was holding his leg in pain and Kelly was looking between Hunter and Shane and Blake, as if she couldn't decide where to go.

"What happened?" she asked. "Where'd he go?"

"That rude customer?" said Kelly. "I told him to leave." She looked at Hunter. "Are you all right, Hunter?"

Hunter nodded. "I think I'm fine. Thanks."

"And you two?" Kelly looked at Shane and Blake, who helped each other stand up. They were scrambling around trying to pick up the clothes and put it back on the racks.

"We're good," Shane said. He looked meaningful at Tori, who nodded them over.

"Where'd he go?" Tori asked. "Billy said to try to keep him here. He's on his way here."

"I don't know where he went," replied Blake. "He just said that he'll wait for us, whatever that means."

"We should go find him," said Tori. "Find him before he finds us."

Shane nodded. "Let's go." He looked up and headed towards Kelly and Hunter. "Hey, we'll be back."

"There you guys go again, always running off," said Kelly. She nodded and smiled at them.

"We'll see you later, Hunter," Blake said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Hunter nodded, but didn't say anything. He watched them run out of the store before being helped by Kelly to the back room.

"Where do you think he went?" Tori asked.

"I don't know," answered Shane. "But stay on guard."

The three of them gathered together. They all jumped at the sound of laughter. Evil laughter.

"He's close, guys."

Tori and Blake nodded in response. The three of them moved in unison.

"Come out and fight!" yelled Blake.

"Now, now. Don't want to pick a fight." Adam stepped out from behind a few trees and laughed at the sight of them. "Oh, to be aPower Ranger. Memories I'd like to forget." He jumped so he was closer to them. "Don't get me wrong, though. Being a Power Ranger made me learn a lot of things. Power, for one, is the thing to strive for most in this world. It is what makes people obey. It is what makes people fear. And it is what will enable me to control the world!" He laughed again and charged at the rangers.

Even though it was three against one, Adam was giving the ninja rangers a good run for their money. Adam kicked at Tori and flipped her onto her back. He butterfly twisted over Blake, knocking him down in the process and laughed as he closed in on Shane.

Shane looked around, preparing himself for Adam's oncoming hit. Adam slowly approached Shane. He raised his arms and shook out his psycho morpher.

"It's psycho time!"

Adam morphed into the black psycho ranger and kicked Shane squarely in his chest. "Get up, red ranger," he growled. Adam kicked him again. "I said, GET UP!"

Tori and Blake looked at each other and nodded. "Ready?" Tori asked.

"Ready," Blake replied.

"Ninja storm. Ranger form!"

"Thunder storm. Ranger form!"

Tori and Blake morphed into the blue and navy rangers and hurried over to Shane's side. Blake threw a kick at Adam's side, freeing Shane from Adam's relentless kicks.

Shane jumped up. "Ninja storm. Ranger form!" He morphed into the red ranger that Adam seemed to hate so much and ran toward Adam, Tori, and Blake. He threw a few punches and tried to avoid Tori and Blake.

"Hey!"

Blake vaguely looked around, not seeing much. He didn't really recognize the voice that was yelling.

"Stop! You guys!"

Shane felt someone grab him and pull him off of Adam. "What?" he said. He looked around and saw Billy pulling Tori from Adam.

Billy faced Adam and put his hands on Adam's shoulders. "Adam, it's Billy."

Adam snarled loudly and kicked at Billy. "Sorry, bud. Don't know no Billy. Only Billy I know disappeared into space without even saying goodbye."

Billy dropped to the ground, following Adam's hard kick.

Shane ran over to him and put a hand on him. "Are you all right, Billy?" he asked.

Billy nodded, holding his side. "Yeah, I'm not hurt. Try to capture him. I haven't exactly figured out how to release him from the spell. But once we could get him back to Ninja Ops, the better."

"We'll try, Billy."

Billy nodded again, struggling to get to his feet. He saw Tori and Blake take over fighting Adam, but again, Adam was a little too powerful. He raised his wrist to his mouth and called for Andros. "I think they're going to need a little bit of help. But, probably just two."

"Right. Carlos and Cassie are on their way."

"Thanks." Billy held his side and was nearly bent over as he went along the nearest building. He saw that it was the store the teenagers were always talking about and figured he could probably take a seat inside and keep up with the fight. Billy walked in and immediately saw Hunter sitting down.

"Billy!" Hunter exclaimed, trying to stand.

"Hunter!" A red-haired lady scolded. "Don't stand!"

Hunter sat down. "Kelly, this is Billy. He's a, uh, he's a friend."

"Nice to meet you, Billy."

Billy nodded and stuck out his hand. "You too, Kelly," he said with a smile.

"I'll be in the back, if you guys need me."

Hunter and Billy nodded. Billy sat down next to Hunter, who leaned in close to him.

"Where are they?"

"They're right outside. They morphed and...well, your friends weren't doing too well. But Cassie and Carlos are on their way."

"Have you figured out how to turn him good again?"

Billy shook his head, sadly. "No."

"Blake and I...when we first came here, we were a couple of Lothor's goons."

"Oh really?"

Hunter nodded, looking a little wistful. "Yeah, he brainwashed us into thinking that Sensei killed our parents."

"How did you get out from it?"

"The spirits of our parents came to me and Blake. They told us that Sensei was not to blame. That it was actually Lothor." He bit his lip and paused. "And when we realized that they were actually our friends and not our enemies, we weren't sure if we actually wanted to join up with them."

"What made you decide to?"

Hunter shrugged. "Sometimes, I'm not sure. We left for a bit and when we came back, Lothor did some weird zap thing to us and we were under his control again."

"And how did you get out from it that time?"

Hunter took his time answering the question.

Billy even thought he saw a few tears gathering in his eyes.

Hunter looked at Billy. "I realized who my true friends were. Maybe that's something that Adam needs to remember."

This time, Billy took his time to reply. "I think you're right. It's been a long time since...since I last saw them. Any of them. And...as far as I know...none of them have been keeping in touch with each other. It's almost like they're fighting...out of spite. Out of hate. Like the evil spell makes their evil side come out."

"Well...maybe all Adam needs and the rest of your old friends need is just a good old-fashioned dose of having fun and hanging out. When was the last time that happened? With all of you?"

Billy shook his head. "I can't even remember." They jumped at the sound of a crash outside. "I'll be back. I'm gonna check on them."

Hunter nodded.

Billy jumped up and ran outside. He saw Carlos and Cassie amidst Tori, Blake, and Shane. Adam was on the ground, struggling against the combined force of Carlos, Shane, and Blake. "Take his morpher!" Billy yelled.

Tori reached for Adam's wrist and grabbed it. Adam resisted against Tori's hold and was pulling his arm back from her. Cassie ran over and grabbed Adam's wrist. Billy ran over to them and tried to unlatch the morpher from Adam's wrist. As soon as he did, Adam demorphed and Billy pocketed the morpher.

"Come on, let's take him back to Ninja Ops," said Billy. "Keep a hold on him, though." Shane, Blake, and Carlos nodded as they headed off. "Tori, can you go and update Hunter on what's going on. He gave me a really good idea."

Tori nodded and held up her arms. "Ninja form!" she called. She demorphed and went into Storm Chargers.

"I hope we could find some way to bring Adam back," said Cassie after she demorphed. She stood next to Billy, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Billy replied. "Me too."

* * *

"You tell him," Kapri said, pushing Marah forward.

"No, you tell him," Marah said, pushing Kapri forward.

"You go!"

"No, you go!"

"Marah!"

"Kapri!"

"What are you two babbling about now?" Lothor growled. Tommy and Jason looked at them in irritation, with their eyes flashing red.

"Hey, I never really noticed it before, but that red psycho is pretty hot," whispered Marah.

"I noticed him first, Marah!" exclaimed Kapri.

"No, you didn't, I did!"

"**What** do you want?" Lothor yelled.

"Um..there's been a problem," said Kapri, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to another.

"What problem?"

Kapri nodded to Marah and pushed her forward. "One of the psycho rangers are missing."

"WHAT?"

"Psycho black."

They gathered around the screen to see where he went. They saw him fighting the rangers in front of Storm Chargers and being forced to demorph.

Jason laughed in the background. "Figures. And he calls himself a ranger."

Lothor threw the screen from his face and yelled loudly. Marah and Kapri covered their ears and ran out of the room.

* * *

Carlos, Blake, and Shane dragged Adam into Ninja Ops, promptly tying him to a chair.

"You got him," Andros said, coming over to help them.

Adam looked at each of them evilly. He struggled against his bonds and moved the chair around.

"Adam?" Carlos said, bending over to look at him face-to-face.

Adam narrowed his eyes at Carlos and spit in his face. Carlos looked at Adam disgusted and took a step back from him. Ashley handed him a paper towel and looked at Adam almost apologetically.

Billy and Cassie ran in with Tori and Hunter close behind. Billy held up the psycho morpher. "I'm gonna run some tests on this."

Andros nodded. "What should we do with Adam?"

"I'm not sure, yet. He should be okay there."

"Let me go!" Adam yelled. He shifted his weight, trying to release himself from the chair.

Billy shook his head at Adam. "Sorry, Adam. But we can't do that, just yet."

"How you feeling, Dustin?" Tori asked, helping Hunter into a chair. She stood next to Dustin's bed.

He tried to shrug his shoulders. "Same," he mouthed.

"Let me go!" Adam yelled again.

"Well," said Andros, turning to Shane. "We do have some good news. I think we've got a lock on where your Sensei is."

"What?" Shane, Blake, and Tori jumped up. Dustin tried to sit up and Hunter tried to stand.

"Where is he?" asked Tori.

"It looks like he's in an alternate dimension off of the planet of Triforia."

Shane looked at Blake and Tori. "Let's go. Hunter, you and Dustin stay here." Blake and Tori stood on either side of Shane. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

Shane raised his hands. "Ninja storm."

"No," Andros said, holding up a hand. "We'll go. Zhane and I. We have experience out there and you guys don't. You'll probably just hurt yourselves even more. Besides, once these two are healed, you'll need your team at full power to overcome Tommy and the others. TJ, you guys stay and help out."

TJ nodded. Before Shane or anybody else could say something, Zhane and Andros disappeared in silver and red beams of light.

"They do have more experience out in space," said Billy, gently. He noticed the looks of disappointment and irritation on Shane, Blake, and Tori's faces. He held up the morpher again. "I'll go and run some tests on this. Cassie?"

Cassie nodded and went with Billy.

From where he was sitting, Adam laughed out loud. "Sucks, doesn't it?" he said, looking at Shane. "To be so helpless, especially with other, better rangers around." His deep voice echoed in the room.

"Don't listen to him," said Carlos. "He's not in his right mind."

Shane didn't say anything in response. He just stared at Adam, who was laughing in his seat.

Ashley, Tori, and Blake took a seat near Dustin and Hunter. "How'd you guys find him, anyway?" Ashley asked, gesturing to Adam.

"He just walked into Storm Chargers," answered Tori. "It's the store where we hang out a lot at. Dustin actually works there and Kelly, the owner, is a really good friend of ours."

"Oh. Does she know?"

Tori shook her head. "No. It's safer that way, I think."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"How you feeling, Bro?" Blake asked Hunter, clapping a hand to his back.

Hunter shrugged, his eyes darkening. "I don't know." He looked at Adam, who was still laughing. "You could stop, you know," he said to Adam. "You don't have to keep laughing at us."

Adam abruptly stopped and stared at Hunter. "You think I haven't been where you guys are?"

"You guys..." started Ashley. She put an arm around Tori and placed her hand on Dustin's shoulder.

"You think I don't know how this feels? What being a Power Ranger means? I remember it. I remember always being a target. I remember giving up the best years of my life to save the world. And from what?" He nodded to them. "Looks like evil is still around. Zordon dying didn't change anything. Evil will always exist in this world. And it will always exist within you." He looked around at each of the rangers-Ashley, Dustin, Tori, Blake, Carlos, and Hunter. "Each of you."

"Adam, come on, man," said Carlos. He took a step toward Adam, but was cautious with how close he got to him. "This isn't you. Evil does exist in this world. It always has and it always will."

Ashley stood up and carefully walked toward Adam. "But without it, how will we know what's worth fighting for?"

"You remember when you helped me?" asked Carlos. "I was ready to give up, but...you...you helped me, Adam. You encouraged me to keep going, that it's hard being a ranger, but it doesn't matter, because at the end of the day, we're doing good. I wanted to give up being a ranger. But you were patient with me and you even helped me train so that I could be a better ranger. Even if we get hurt sometimes."

Adam glared at each of them, not saying a word. He spit out of the side of his mouth.

"That's really disgusting," said Tori.

"Yeah, can't we, like, muzzle him or something?" said Blake, rolling his eyes.

Hunter looked at Ashley and Carlos. "I think we're okay. I think we're fine. Would it be okay if you left us alone with him for a bit?"

"Are you sure?" asked Carlos.

Hunter looked at Shane and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure." He waited for Ashley and Carlos to leave them and join Billy and Cassie across the room. Shane sat down near him and Adam. Hunter briefly glanced at his brother and back at Adam. "First of all, you better not spit anymore."

Adam rolled his eyes. "I'll do whatever I want to do."

Hunter looked at Shane again. "Were we this bad?"

Shane smirked and nodded. "In some ways, you guys were worse."

"Anyway," Hunter said, turning his attention back to Adam. "I remember being under an evil spell. It sucks. Of course it does. You don't do anything of your own willpower. You could think of what you want, but what you do and say or different from what's going on in here." Hunter put his hand on his heart. He gestured to Shane, Tori, and Dustin. "These guys...they didn't give up on me. They're my friends and...they saved my life. They saved me from me." He smiled at them. "Now...I don't know what's fueling your anger. But, if you look past it, you can see that you do still have friends here. I don't know about your old ones, but..." Hunter looked at Billy, Cassie, Ashley, Carlos, and TJ across the room. "They seem like they want to help you. And we want to help you, too."

"And I know we're probably younger...well, not probably, we are younger than you," started Shane, "we could be your friends, too."

Tori nodded slowly. "Yeah," she agreed. "I'd love to hear about your old ranger stories."

"Just think about it," Blake said. "They didn't give up on us and we're not going to give up on you. Or any of your friends." He looked at Tori and smiled. "I know how important they are."

* * *

"I think we can officially say that black is out," Tommy said. "If he hasn't come out by now, then they have him captive."

"Then go find him!" yelled Lothor.

"Why should we?" asked Jason. "He's the stupid one that went and got himself captured."

"Because SIX rangers are more powerful than FIVE!"

"We could still beat them," Tommy said. "They're nothing, but weak, naive teenagers."

"With attitude," Jason said, raising a finger. "Can't forget that, right?"

"BLUE!" yelled Lothor. "PINK! YELLOW! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Rocky, Kim, and Aisha immediately appeared in the room, standing in front of Marah and Kapri. Lothor stood up from his seat and paced up and down in front of the psychos. He looked at each of them, boring into each of them with his eyes.

"Go. Lure them out. Fight them. And destroy them."

"Can we come, too, Uncle?" asked Kapri.

"Why?"

"Oh, you know," said Marah, "in on the family fun. Maybe a little quality time while we're at it?"

Lothor growled. "Go! Just so I can get some peace and quiet!"

Marah and Kapri clapped their hands and the five remaining psycho rangers morphed. In a flash, they disappeared.

* * *

There's that chapter! Please let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you all for the reviews! I love it. =)

Here's another chapter. I'm trying to get some out as soon as I can because I'll be heading back to school soon so...the chapters may take a bit to come out.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Adam glared at each of them. He looked at the boy in yellow lying on the table. He was staring up at Adam with wide, dark brown eyes. His eyes kind of reminded Adam of Kimberly's. Adam dropped his head and closed his eyes, feeling an intense headache come upon him. He shook it off and opened his eyes. The blonde girl with blue eyes was staring back at him. She had a worried look on her face. He remembered seeing that look on Aisha's face so many times before. He clenched his fists on his lap and tensed his muscles.

Adam looked at the teenagers sitting in front of him again. "You know nothing," he spat out. He resisted the urge to spit on the floor again, even though he knew how much they seemed to hate it. He looked at the Asian boy, who was sitting next to the blonde girl. Even though he looked concerned, he almost looked as if he didn't have a care in the world. Like he was free and just wanted to have fun. Kind of like Rocky.

He yelled out in pain and resisted against his bonds. Adam saw the boy in red warn the others to not do anything. They seemed to be watching him closely. Adam focused his eyes on the boy in red and narrowed his eyes at him. This kid seemed like a natural-born leader. He was fearless for his friends and wanted nothing more than the best for them. Like someone else he knew...Jason.

"Is he okay?"

Adam snarled at the new voice that entered his mind. He didn't know where it came from or who it was, but everything just seemed to be hurting his head. More and more. Everything was almost spinning and he felt sick. Despite that, he was able to focus his eyes on the blonde kid who looked as if he'd survived through a thousand and one battles. Adam could see a darkness in this boy. He knew that at one point, this kid was evil. Or under evil's influence. He remembered hearing that from him earlier. And Adam could tell that he'd lived a hard life. He could see it in his eyes. It reminded him of Tommy.

Adam yelled out, struggling against the rope that held his arms down. He clenched his eyes close and tried to make his head stop hurting. He moved around in the chair and it fell to its side with Adam still tied to it. Adam continued to fight against his bonds and finally broke through them. He brought his hands to his head and maneuvered himself into fetal position, still yelling out in pain. He could feel bodies surround him and tried to kick anyone who tried to help him away.

"ARGHHH!" Adam yelled, holding his head. All the sounds seemed magnified and his head was pounding. He tried to sit up, but couldn't even raise his head.

"Adam, Adam," he heard. "Hey, look at me."

Adam refused to let this new person take his hands off of his head. He closed his eyes tighter.

"Adam, it's me. Open your eyes. It's me, Billy. Open your eyes. Everything will be okay."

Adam yelled out loud again and tried to shove Billy away from him. He felt hands on his arms and tried to fight against the force.

"Open your eyes, Adam! Just open them!"

Adam twisted his body away from Billy, still holding his head. "It hurts!" he cried out. He yelled again and could feel his eyes well up with tears. He clenched his eyes closed, feeling a few stray tears run down the side of his head.

"Open your eyes, Adam," he heard again.

This time, Adam was too exhausted to fight against whoever was forcing him to open his eyes. He felt someone gently remove his hands from his head and allowed himself to be helped to sit up. Adam could still feel his head throbbing and didn't want to open his eyes.

"You'll be okay. You will. Everything will be okay."

The familiar, caring voice surprised Adam. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking a lot, since his eyes weren't adjusted to the light anymore. "Where am I?" he asked in a small voice.

"You're in a safe place."

Adam blinked a few more times, with his eyes settling on the familiar face in front of him. "Bi...Billy? Is that you?" He wiped his face in his hands.

Billy nodded. "It's me."

"What...where...why?"

"What do you remember, Adam?"

Adam rubbed his head and looked around. He saw a group of teenagers that he barely recognized and Carlos, Cassie, Ashley, and TJ standing nearby. "I...I don't know. The only thing I remember is...leaving the set of the movie I was working on...and getting attacked by...something. And then...it's...it's almost like a dream." He exhaled and looked at Billy. "Tommy...and Kim...Jason...Rocky...Aisha...and..." Adam closed his eyes, trying to think. "...these two girls with...the weirdest hair...I don't know...fighting...getting power...I don't know...it's gotta be a dream, right?"

Billy shook his head. "It wasn't a dream."

"So..." Adam's voice dropped. "It was real? I was evil?"

Billy didn't say anything for a bit. "It wasn't you."

He looked around and nodded to the teenagers. "So...you guys..."

"The wind rangers," said the boy in red.

"And the thunder rangers," added another boy in red.

"I'm Shane."

"Tori."

"Hunter."

"Blake. And this is Dustin."

Adam looked at the boy in yellow who was smiling at him. He saw his bloodstained shirt and how he was holding his abdomen. "Did...I..."

Blake shook his head. "No...it was...someone else."

"Oh..." Adam nodded slowly. "What am I doing here?"

At once, alarms blared. TJ looked back at the screen. "Trouble, guys. The psycho rangers are in some sort of...rock quarry. I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be good."

Billy nodded. "Go. Just let me know if you need anything."

Shane nodded and stood up. "Ready?" He looked at Tori and Blake.

They nodded. "Ready."

"Ninja storm. Ranger form!"

"Thunder storm. Ranger form!"

"Let's rocket!"

At once, the eight rangers morphed into their suits and disappeared. Adam managed to make his way onto a chair and was watching the screen. "So...they're..."

"Tommy and the others," said Billy.

Adam nodded, biting his lip.

Hunter limped over to him and sat down next to Adam. "Are you okay?"

Adam looked at the younger boy and nodded slowly. "Now that the ringing has kind of subsided...it does feel a bit better." He put his hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Thank you."

Hunter shrugged. "It wasn't anything. I know my friends would've done the same for me."

Adam nodded. "Yeah. But I'm not one of your friends. I'm just..some old guy who was apparently trying to kill you guys."

"Well...you were a Power Ranger. And...that kinda ties us together, right?"

Adam nodded again. "Yeah. I'm glad the Power's in good hands."

Hunter shrugged and gestured to his leg. "Can't do too much out there."

"Sorry about that..."

"It's okay. Really, it is." Hunter looked at the screen. "I just hope they find some way to get the rest of your friends back."

"I do, too. From what I could remember...we weren't really happy with each other. I just remember a lot of yelling and screaming. Not really what you would've expected from a bunch of friends." He scrunched his eyes in thought. "It was the first time I've seen them since...I left the power, I think. I don't even remember the last time I spoke to any of them. Even Rocky and Aisha. And I've known them since I was like 5 or something."

"What happened? There in the lair?" asked Billy. He sat down and pulled a table near that had the black psycho morpher on it.

Adam shrugged. "I don't really remember too much, but...it just seemed like everyone hated each other."

Billy looked at Hunter. "Is that what it was like when you and your brother were evil?"

Hunter shook his head. "No, it wasn't like that. Not until Choobo was telling me that my brother was evil and wanted me dead or something. Blake was cool, though. He...he really pulled me through."

"Blake's your brother?" Adam asked.

Hunter nodded. "We were both adopted. And Lothor killed our parents. At first, he told us that Sensei was the one who did it, but...it turned out to be him."

"That's strange, though," said Billy. "You're saying that all of them, Jason, Tommy, Kim, Aisha, Rocky, and yourself, were walking around hating each other? Why?"

Adam shrugged. "I don't really know."

"Earlier, I don't know if you remember, you said that you didn't know a Billy. Only the one who left without even saying goodbye."

"I'm sorry, Billy. I didn't mean it."

Billy nodded. "I know...but...I think deep down that you did mean it. In some way. And again, I apologize for leaving that day without saying goodbye. I should've waited for you. All of you. Before leaving the planet."

"It's okay, Billy. It is. I mean, they needed you then. How could I ask you to wait just a few more minutes just to say goodbye to us?"

"Again, I apologize. I am truly sorry. I didn't...I didn't realize that...that it was the wrong way to leave. I'm sorry. I should've said goodbye. You guys were my best friends and...I just left. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Billy. You don't have to keep apologizing. It did hurt at one point, maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, but...I mean, I know why you had to leave."

Hunter laughed a bit. "Why don't you guys just...agree to leave it in the past?"

Billy and Adam looked at each other and nodded. Billy clapped a hand on Adam's back. "Fine by me."

"And me." Adam grinned at Billy. "So...how can I help?"

* * *

"Nice to see you again, rangers," growled Tommy. He and the other psycho rangers stood in the middle of the large rock quarry. They each held their weapons at their side.

"Tommy, we're here to help you!" TJ yelled, taking a step forward.

Tommy laughed. "Yeah. Like I need your help, Power Ranger." He took a step forward and held out his sword, pointing it toward the rangers. "Psychos-attack!"

Rocky held out his power lance and waved it around, heading toward Blake. Blake pulled out his thunder stick and waved it around. They charged each other at the same time, making sparks fly as Rocky's lance made contact with Blake's thunder stick. "Let's dance, blue," said Rocky. He moved his lance and used it to drop Blake to the ground.

"It's NAVY!" Blake yelled, jumping up. He again charged at Rocky, holding his thunder stick out.

Aisha approached Cassie and Ashley slowly. She was holding the lone dagger she had in her hand, waving it around. "I was sorta hoping that you would give my other one back to me."

"Come on now," said Cassie. "We're rangers, just like you. You were one of us."

"Yeah?" Aisha looked at Cassie up and down. "Well, sorry, lady. I just don't see it." She charged at Cassie and Ashley, holding her dagger in one hand. She kicked Ashley, dropping her to the ground and continued to kick her. Cassie tackled her from behind and tried to grab Aisha's dagger from her. "No, no, no," Aisha said, throwing Cassie off her back. "This is mine. And I don't like it when people try to take my things. That's why I want my other one back!"

"I'm beginning to really look forward to the times we get to meet up, blue ranger," Kim said, brandishing her bow before her. She took a step toward Tori. "We should meet up more often."

"Yeah, maybe when you're good!" Tori yelled, running toward Kim, holding her ninja sword. She raised it above her head and aimed it toward Kim, who promptly blocked it with her bow. She used her bow to tangle up the sword and threw it to the side. Tori tried to run for it, but Kim kicked at her to the ground.

"Get up, blue ranger! Let me see that water that you so forced upon me earlier!" Kim yelled. She kicked at Tori again, aiming for her helmet.

Jason grinned beneath his helmet as he saw the red ranger and black ranger approach him. "This is gonna be fun." He set off a series of kicks, aimed between both Shane and Carlos and continued kicking them until they couldn't take no more and dropped to the ground. Carlos rolled out of the way and Jason ended up between Shane and Carlos.

"Tommy, come on, man!" TJ yelled. "I'm not going to fight you!"

"Then, I guess you're just going to die." Tommy ran toward TJ, holding his sword high above him. TJ moved from Tommy's aim and continued to dodge each of his hits. "Funny, I don't remember asking you to dance, red ranger."

"Tommy!"

"Quiet, red ranger!" Again, he held up his sword and tried to slash at TJ. TJ dodged Tommy's sword again

Blake hit Rocky with his thunder stick, forcing Rocky to take a few steps back. With Rocky's defenses down, Blake took advantage and kept hitting him.

"Argh!" Rocky fell backwards and used his arm and lance to block Blake's hits. He rolled over to avoid the thunder stick and used his leg to kick Blake's out from underneath him. Blake ended up on the ground with his back against the dirt and Rocky held his lance at Blake's neck.

Blake raised his hands in surrender. He looked around for his thunder stick and saw it laying a few yards away from him. Rocky saw Blake looking at it and kicked it further away. He laughed in Blake's face and held the lance high above him.

Tori used her water blast to get Kim to back off of her. She jumped up and held her ninja sword in front of her. Kim paced in a few yards away from Tori, up and down. Tori mimicked her moves, not wanting Kim to get too close and making sure she was ready for any sudden attacks from Kim.

Kim held up her Power Bow and pulled out an arrow. She cocked the bow and carefully placed arrow, aiming it at Tori. "Any last words, blue ranger?" Kim pulled back the string and released.

"Tori!" Blake yelled. He kicked at Rocky, throwing him in the air, right in the line of Kim's arrow. It hit Rocky's shoulder and he suddenly demorphed and dropped to the ground, yelling and screaming in pain. "Oh no," Blake said to himself. He and Tori ran over to Rocky and knelt down next to him.

"I'll be back for you blue," Kim said. She looked around at the other psycho rangers. "Psychos, out!" she called. She waved her bow around and promptly disappeared. The other psycho rangers promptly followed and disappeared.

Blake and Tori demorphed as soon as they saw the psycho rangers disappear. "It...it...I...he...Tor..." Blake started. "I...I didn't...I didn't mean to."

Tori nodded, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder. "I know." She sadly looked down at Rocky, who was writhing in pain. He screamed and yelled, piercing her ears.

"It's not your fault, Blake," said TJ, also demorphed. Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos ran up to them.

"We should get back," said Cassie.

"Be carefuly with him," said Ashley. "Don't pull the arrow out and try to not move him too much."

"Billy, you get that?" TJ asked, bringing his wrist to his mouth.

"Yes, TJ," Billy answered through the morpher. "Teleporting Rocky now."

* * *

There's that chapter! Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

Here's the new chapter! Thanks for reading!

A/N: There's a bit about the Ninjetti powers in this. I'm just going by the movie version instead of the show version. So, they received their powers from Dulcea instead of Ninjor.

* * *

By the time the rangers returned to Ninja Ops, Rocky was laying on another makeshift bed, next to Dustin. Dustin was sitting up, although he was surrounded by a bunch of pillows to help him balance.

"He's losing a lot of blood," he said. Dustin tried to move and put a towel over Rocky, but was still in pain. He winced and held his abdomen.

"Don't try to move, Dustin," said Adam. He took the towel from Dustin and looked at Rocky with worried eyes. "Billy, do you think he's going to be okay?"

"I don't know, Adam," he answered truthfully. He used scissors to cut open Rocky's blue shirt. It was a bit difficult since Rocky was still moving around in pain.

"Is there anything we could do to help?" asked Tori. She walked in and stood between Rocky's bed and Dustin's. Blake followed her closely, but continued on to sit down next to his brother. He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands.

"You okay, Bro?" Hunter asked, knocking his hand against his brother's leg.

"I pushed him," Blake said. "He was standing over me and I kicked him and he flew through the air and...I did it."

"No, you didn't. It was an accident and it could've happened to anybody."

"But it happened to me." Blake looked up at Rocky and shook his head. He put his hands over his head and leaned forward.

Ashley put her hands on either side of Rocky's head, trying to stop him from moving. "Do you think he's still under the spell?"

"It's hard to say," answered Billy. "He won't stop moving and he's barely conscious."

TJ put his hands on one of Rocky's shoulders, trying to pin him down. Adam stood next to Billy and tried to hold Rocky down, too. Tori stood nearby, hovering around, waiting to see if they needed help. She settled for sitting on the edge of Dustin's bed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, wiping a strand of hair back from Dustin's face.

Dustin nodded. "I'm feeling a lot better." He pointed to Rocky. "But this guy...he doesn't look like he's doing too well."

Shane shook his head, taking a seat on Dustin's bed, also.

"He's not," said Billy. "I don't think the arrow's poisonous, so that's a good thing."

"Should we try to get it out?" asked Adam.

Billy shook his head. "No, I don't think so. That might do more damage." He looked around Ninja Ops. "I think I've got...yes, I did bring it." Billy ran across the room and pulled something from his bag. "I was hoping that we wouldn't need this."

"What is it?"

"It's a sedative. Hopefully, it'll help Rocky relieve some of the pain and calm him down a bit. Then we could examine this a bit more and figure out what to do from there."

"Will he be all right?" Adam looked down at his friend and bit his lip. He was scared and worried for his best friend.

Billy shrugged. "I really don't know, Adam." A look of sadness passed on his face. He put his hand on Rocky's arm. "I'll try my best, Rocky." He held up a syringe and gestured for Adam to hold down the arm that the arrow had hit. He shot the sedative in Rocky's vein and almost immediately, Rocky stopped struggling. He laid still, but kept breathing heavily.

TJ released Adam's arm and took a few steps back. He grabbed a small towel and looked for somewhere to run hot water over it. TJ wet the towel and returned, using it to wipe some of the blood around his wound. He gently wiped the blood away, cleaning it and ignoring Rocky's moans and groans.

"Are you all right?" Carlos asked Blake, noticing how down the teenager looked. He took a seat on the other side of him.

Cassie resumed the place at the computer, trying to find a way to get Cam out. She put a lock on Andros and Zhane, keeping track of how they were doing, and barely listened to Carlos talking to the two teenage boys.

Blake shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He sat up and looked at Rocky. "I can't believe I did that to him."

"You didn't do it," Hunter said, trying to reassure his brother. "It wasn't your fault."

"You weren't there, Hunter. I did it. I pushed him and he got hit by that arrow."

"You know, once, I accidently hit Cassie in battle," Carlos said, gesturing to Cassie. She looked over at the sound of her name. "I thought it was my fault. I thought that I didn't deserve to be a ranger anymore."

"I don't," said Blake. "This guy...he's not even in his right mind. And I got him injured. Not even injured. He was hit by an arrow! Because of me."

"Not because of you. It's not your fault, Blake. These things happen in battle. Accidents happen." Carlos gestured to Dustin. "Look at Dustin. He looks like he's almost a hundred percent." Dustin looked at Blake and grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Carlos gestured back to Cassie. "And Cassie got better."

"But he might die."

"Or he won't. You can't think like that, Blake. It'll just make you crazy."

Cassie nodded, turning from the computer. "It will, Blake. It was an accident and we know that. We all know that. It's all part of being a ranger. You can't blame yourself, Blake. Especially when it's something that you really didn't have any fault over."

"What if, next time, it's a civilian or a kid or something?"

"Again, Blake," Carlos said. "Don't think like that. You can't be afraid to fight for the people who you're protecting. That's something that I had to learn."

Billy and Ashley moved around Rocky, hooking him up to different wires and other things. Billy pressed a few buttons and waited a bit. "Good news. It looks like he's stable. Now let's just figure how to get this thing out of him." He gestured to the blue psycho morpher at his wrist. "Cassie, can you get the morpher and run it with the black morpher for testing?"

"Sure, Billy." Cassie smiled at Blake and rubbed his shoulder as she walked by him. "It'll be okay, Blake." She took off the psycho morpher and put it next to the black one. She pressed a few buttons, running it through a number of different machines.

Billy broke the arrow in half, leaving the sharper side embedded in Rocky's shoulder. He put on some gloves and gently poked around the wound. Ashley and Adam held Rocky down as he started to writhe around on the table. Billy looked around. "Hey, TJ? Can you pass me that over there, please? And the rubbing alcohol and cotton balls?"

TJ nodded and reached for a pair of tools that looked like tweezers. "Do you want me to-"

Billy nodded. "Yeah, sanitize that, bring that over."

"Should I grab the hydrogen peroxide, too? Clean out the wound a bit?"

"Oh yeah, that'll work. Thanks, TJ."

Tori jumped up and headed for TJ's side. "Do you need me to help with anything?"

TJ nodded, handing her the hydrogen peroxide and a pile of cotton balls. "Give this to Billy."

Tori nodded and stood next to Billy, holding the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She set the cotton balls on the table and carefully opened the bottle, pouring some of its contents on the cotton balls.

"Great, Tori," said Billy. "Here, put these gloves on."

Tori took the gloves from Billy and carefully put them on. "All right. What should I do now, Billy?"

"Gently dab at the wound. The hydrogen peroxide won't hurt, but be gentle. The sensation might startle him."

Tori nodded and followed Billy's instructions. As she was dabbing at Rocky's shoulder, Billy began working on getting the arrow out. TJ stood next to Billy, assisting him with whatever he needed.

Dustin was sitting on the bed, next to Rocky. He watched Billy work in interest. "It's like we have front row seats in an operating room," he said to Shane.

"Well...at least it's good to see that you're back," Shane said, chuckling a little bit. He used his hand to wipe his face.

"I'm feeling better," Dustin said, nodding his head. "It still hurts, but not as much as it did before." He pointed to Billy and lowered his voice. "Whatever Billy gave me helped!" Shane just looked at him and smiled. Tori giggled a bit before solemnly looking at Rocky.

"Hey, Billy," Cassie called from across the room. He looked up from Rocky. "I think you should look at this. I found some things about the psycho morphers. And maybe why Lothor chose these guys."

Billy nodded and took off the gloves. He looked at Ashley and nodded to Rocky. "Ash, would it be okay?"

"Yeah, of course." She grabbed a pair of gloves and shoved it onto her hand. She resumed Billy's task of trying to get the arrow out. It proved to be a pretty difficult job since the arrow splintered in his shoulder and there were little pieces everywhere. Ashley was afraid to move the largest piece of the arrow, the actual arrowhead, and opted to use the tweezers to pull out the smaller pieces.

Billy headed for Cassie and leaned down, looking at the computer. "What did you find out, Cassie?"

"Well, Adam's morpher showed strong traces of the psycho power. And the psycho power itself is a manifestation of evil. When Adam was 'turned' evil," she used air quotes and held up the black morpher, "by the Abyss of Evil, it forced all his 'evil' thoughts to come to the forefront of his mind. And that's why all he saw was...well, red."

Adam was listening from where he stood next to Rocky. "And that's why we were all so...mad at each other. Every bad or evil thought we had was what we were mainly thinking about."

"Don't blame yourself, Adam," said TJ. "All of us have bad thoughts sometimes. It just...depends on whether or not we act on them."

"Except Dustin," said Tori, smiling. She turned slightly to acknowledge her friend. "He sees the good in everyone and thinks that everyone is just as good and nice as he is."

Dustin shrugged his shoulders. "That's better than being called a goof, I guess."

"It's a good thing, Dustin. That's what makes you so special!"

Billy didn't even hear them speak. He looked at Cassie and took the black morpher from her, examining it with his naked eye. "So, their own anger is what's fueling them. That's interesting." He looked at Adam, thoughtfully. "The only way to get through to Adam was...by them." He gestured to Hunter. "They reminded him of what being a true friend was. Why fighting evil is so important. If we could somehow get the others down here..."

"Easier said than done, man," said Blake. He shook his head. "And...I don't want to be the reason for any more injuries."

"It's not your fault, Blake. We need you to help us. Help me help my friends."

Blake nodded, looking down. "I know. I just...I don't know. I'm scared, I guess."

"We're all scared, Blake," said Cassie. "You never know when your last battle is going to be your last. There's been so many close calls that...it's just hard to keep track of. But...without those daily reminders...how can we truly treasure the time that actually do get to spend with those that we love?"

Blake half-glanced at Tori before looking down at his hands. He nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

Cassie smiled at him before looking at Billy. "I guess the biggest problem is how do we get them down here so that we can remind them of how close they all were."

Billy nodded. "Hey, Adam, do you remember anything about Lothor's lair?"

Adam shook his head. "Not much. Just flashes and little things. I remember walking the halls and Jason...well, for lack of a better word, threatening me."

TJ looked at Billy like a lightbulb just went off in his head. He glanced between Adam, Rocky, and the Ninja Storm rangers. "Last time we fought the psycho rangers, they knew all of our moves. They knew everything that we were going to do, almost as if they were reading our minds as they were fighting. It's one reason why they were so hard to beat." He gestured to Shane. "Is that sort of how it is with you guys?"

Shane looked at Dustin and Tori and then back at Hunter and Blake. "Um...I guess. I don't really know, though. I haven't been paying attention too closely."

TJ nodded slightly. "Because last time, whichever psycho ranger had our color, they chose us to fight and knew our moves before we even made them. So I was just thinking maybe it's the same thing with Tommy and them..."

"But then they'd be always just focusing on one of them," said Carlos. "Didn't Tommy go after you?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. I guess not, then."

"I don't know...that pink psycho ranger seems like she won't rest until she's got my head," said Tori.

Adam smiled at her and gently rubbed her shoulder. "She's not usually like that."

"Yeah, I know." Tori nodded, somewhat guiltily. "I just...I don't know...she's so powerful."

"That's because their psycho morphers, or Adam's at least, combined his Ninjetti spirit animal with his Zeo powers. And the combination of that with the psycho power...well..." Billy trailed off, looking around the room. "It makes them-"

"Damn near unbeatable," said Hunter.

"Hey, you guys got me back," said Adam. "And..." he gestured to Rocky. "Hopefully, the arrow knocked some sense into him."

"Or evil out of him," said Tori.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, or that." He looked at Billy. "So the Ninjetti and the Zeo powers, huh? Is that why Rocky and Tommy are there, too? What about Kim, Aisha, and Jason?"

Billy nodded. "I'm not sure, yet. When I was on Aquitar, I do remember hearing about how the Ninjetti powers of Phaedos are probably the most powerful in the universe, so...there goes one reason. I'm fairly certain that I would probably be among you all if I wasn't on Aquitar. So Jason was probably chosen because he wielded the Tyrannosaurus powers, the most powerful of the original powers. And also the Zeo powers, too. The gold ranger ones."

"So our Ninjetti powers combined with the psycho powers..."

"Equal a group of extremely powerful ex-rangers."

Adam nodded and looked around. "Sorry, guys."

"It's not your fault, Adam," said Shane. "It's Lothor. Lothor did it to you and your friends."

"Adam, I'm going to try and see if we can somehow harness your Ninjetti spirit animal so you can still morph."

Adam made a face. "You sure about that, Billy?"

Billy nodded. "Yes, of course." He held up the morpher and winked at Adam. "Not with this, though. The spirit of the Ninjetti powers should be sufficient enough."

"Ninjetti powers?" asked Tori. "So you guys were, like, ninjas, too?"

Adam gave Tori a slight nod. "Sort of. I mean, we did have ninja ranger power, but it's nothing like how you guys are or the powers that you all hold. We had these animal spirits within us and that's primarily where our power came from while your powers are all elemental, right?" Tori, Shane, Dustin, Hunter, and Blake nodded, hanging on to his every word. "Yeah, so from our animal spirits, we became ninja rangers, also." He furrowed his brow, thinking hard. "Rocky, here, was the ape. Or, I guess I should say, _is_ the ape. Aisha's the bear, Kim's the crane." He pointed to Billy. "Billy's the wolf and Tommy's the falcon."

"What about you?" asked Dustin.

"I was-" Adam glanced at Billy, who seemed to stifle a grin. "I was the frog."

"A frog?" the ninja rangers exclaimed.

Dustin grinned. "Dude, what were your powers? Did you destroy your enemies by your tongue?"

Adam shook his head and rolled his eyes. He even laughed a bit. "When Dulcea gave us our powers, the only thing she had told me was that I was a frog. 'Like the one you kiss to get a handsome prince'," he said, mimicking Dulcea's voice. "So after we finished that big battle and whatever, we used to always laugh and joke around, wondering if the only way to defeat the bad guys was to get them to kiss me."

The ninja rangers started laughing. "You guys sound like you cared about each other a lot," said Tori.

Adam nodded. "Yeah." He looked wistfully at Rocky's unconscious body and listened to his even breathing. It seemed like Rocky had finally calmed down. "We did everything together."


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you all for the reviews! I love it. =)

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

"ANOTHER RANGER!" yelled Lothor. He threw something and the psycho rangers all jumped out of the way to avoid it. "TWO RANGERS! TWO RANGERS GONE!"

Kapri and Marah stood on either side of their uncle, giggling behind their hands. "Air five, Marah!" said Kapri, extending her hand above her head. "We didn't screw this one up!"

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Marah. She returned Marah's air five. "We definitely didn't screw this one up!" She gestured to the morphed psycho rangers. "This is all their fault!"

Lothor glared at his nieces. The two of them immediately stopped talking over him. He growled at the psycho rangers. "DEMORPH! DEMORPH AND LET ME SEE YOUR FACES!"

Somewhat reluctantly, the remaining four psycho rangers demorphed. All of them were looking down, a bit ashamed at what happened. Kim took a step back from the rest of the group, shifting her weight between her legs. She knew it was her arrow that took down Rocky and wasn't exactly sure what to feel. She was angry that she had missed the blue ninja ranger and even more angrier that Rocky had gotten hit.

Lothor paced in front of them, slapping each of them across the face as he walked by them. Each of the rangers recoiled, feeling the sting of Lothor's hand.

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" he yelled. He slapped each of them again as they left the room. Lothor watched them leave, growling in anger.

"Good job, pink," Jason said, brushing past her. "Nice shot."

"Shut up," Kim retorted. "Shut up and leave me the hell alone."

"You know I'll do that. Don't want to be the next one to get hit by one of your arrows."

Tommy stepped between them. "Go away, Jason."

Jason looked at him and laughed. "You're seriously defending her? Her? Do you know who she is?"

"Yeah, I know. Go away, Jason. Before I make you."

Jason rolled his eyes. "You can't take me. But I'll go. Just watch your back, O fearless leader. Never know when she's going to backstab you or break your heart, right?" He laughed and walked away.

"I could take care of myself," Kim said, pushing Tommy away. "So stay the hell away from me. It should be easy for you. You've done it for years." She stomped away, glaring at him. Aisha glared at Tommy, too, and followed Kim down the hall.

"Kimberly," she said, harshly.

Kim looked back and saw Aisha standing behind her. She groaned and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I want to propose a plan."

Kim shook her head and kept on walking. "Not interested."

"You almost hit me with an arrow before. And now you've hit Rocky. You owe me."

"I owe you nothing."

"Fine. But I still have a plan."

"Again, not interested."

"Oh, I think you would be."

Kim exhaled and crossed her arms. "Just so you could stop talking to me. What do you want?"

"You and me, working together to take down the rangers. We get rid of blue first and take care of navy. You look like you're after them. Reminds you a little of the past, doesn't it?" Aisha smirked, crossing her own arms."

"Like I said, not interested."

"You sure? I'll save blue blondie for you."

Kim bit her lip, seriously thinking about it. "Fine. What's the plan?"

"We go down to Earth. Get the blue ranger out. Tell her we've seen the error of our ways and will only see her."

"They'll never buy it. There are too many of them."

"Not if we go down there in our natural form." Aisha smirked again. "You know them. Or their type. They can't resist helping others. And when we defeat them, we will be raised above the others in Lothor's eyes."

Kim slightly nodded. "Say I go along with this plan. When will we do it?"

Aisha grinned and wrinkled her nose. "Tomorrow. The woods near their base. If we can somehow find a way to get into their base, even better. But the useless green ranger isn't talking."

"Okay. The woods near their base."

"All right. Tomorrow, blue and navy go down. I'll see you later." She nodded to Kim and walked away.

Kim looked after her and smirked. "Oh, that's right. Except we'll be losing yellow along with blue and navy. Another slip of the bow should do it. And this time, I won't miss." She quietly laughed. "And when I get their powers...you will all bow down to me..."

* * *

Ashley, TJ, and Tori surrounded Rocky. TJ was holding Rocky down while Tori stood next to Ashley, assisting her in anything she needed. Ashley found some morphine among Billy's medical supplies that he brought from Aquitar and injected it into Rocky, hoping that he wouldn't feel too much pain. She didn't want to cause him any more than he already had. Ashley looked up at TJ and Tori, who both nodded to her. She was vaguely aware of Shane and Dustin commenting on every thing she was doing and the eyes of Blake, Hunter, and Carlos following her every move. She took a deep breath and held out her hand for the large tweezers that TJ found earlier.

"Do you think this'll work?" Ashley asked. "I mean, the arrowhead is pretty big."

"You could try just pulling it out," said TJ. "That's what you were going to do with the tweezers, anyway, right?"

"It's in there pretty good." Ashley wrinkled her forehead. "I guess if I could somehow maneuver the it closer to the surface and then pick it out?"

"Can't hurt to try."

"Actually, it can. I don't want to ruin his shoulder."

TJ shrugged his shoulders. "I think the arrow's already done that."

Ashley shook her head, trying to find some confidence. She briefly glanced over at Billy, Adam, and Cassie, wishing desperately that Billy was the one doing this instead of helping Adam harness the Frog Ninjetti power. "Well, here goes nothing."

TJ nodded and grabbed Rocky's hand and held down his torso. "You could do it, Ashley."

Ashley bent over, leaning closer to Rocky's shoulder to see better. She carefully inserted the tweezers into the open wound, but didn't use them like normal tweezers. Instead, she carefully felt around for the arrow head and when she knocked against it, Ashley slowly and gently prodded it upwards, toward her. She moved very slow, hoping that it wouldn't slip back inside his body somehow. So far, Rocky barely moved a muscle, almost like he didn't feel anything. Ashley continued to slowly move the arrowhead upward and soon saw a bloody point emerge. She took one hand, directing it upward, but still used the tweezers to prod it out of Rocky's shoulder.

Tori looked away, feeling a little queasy at the sight of Ashley basically performing surgery on the table in front of her. She knew that, as rangers, they healed faster than normal rangers. But she wondered if Rocky would be as lucky as Dustin. Dustin, although he was still pretty weak, looked like he was getting better every minute. Tori glanced back at Ashley, who had beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She furrowed her brow even more, using the sleeve of her gray jacket to wipe it away.

"Hold down the towel, Tori," Ashley was saying. "Put some pressure on it."

Tori pressed down on Rocky's wound. She looked down at Rocky's shoulder and began to feel a little more sick. Her breath caught in her throat and she let go. "I'm sorry," she choked out, running from the room.

TJ nodded to her, watching her leave. He looked at Shane and nodded him over. "Shane. Come here."

Shane watched Tori leave, torn between helping Ashley and TJ and going after her. Blake passed by him, lightly tapping him as he walked by. Shane nodded to him and headed toward Ashley and TJ. He carefully pulled on gloves and took the towel, pressing it down on Rocky's wound.

Blake followed Tori out of Ninja Ops and found her sitting on a rock, near the water. "Hey," he said, slowly approaching her from behind. "Mind if I join you?"

Tori looked up at him and gestured down next to her. "Feel free."

Blake sat down and bumped his shoulder against Tori's. "Crazy, huh? Everything. The psycho rangers. Adam. Rocky."

"Cam. Sensei. The space rangers. Billy."

"Yeah." He nudged her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Tori shook her head. Then she nodded. Then she shook her head again. "I don't know. We've never...we've never faced anything like this. Not even when we were fighting you and Hunter...it wasn't like this. Last time, we had Cam and Sensei to help us." She sighed and rubbed her head. "And then...Rocky, too..."

Blake's face changed. "Yeah," he said, softly. "Rocky..."

Tori looked up at him and sighed again. "Oh, Blake. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No, it's okay, Tori. I mean...I still kind of feel like it's my fault about why he got hurt, but...I know that it was an accident. And, who knows...it probably would've been you to get hit by that arrow. And I don't know what I would've done if..." Blake trailed off, looking away.

"If what?" Tori lightly elbowed him, prodding him to continue.

"If...I don't know what I would've done if anything happened to you." Blake looked at her and smiled. He brushed her hair behind her ear. "You're, like, pretty important to me."

Tori looked down, smiling to herself. She looked at Blake and leaned into him. "You're pretty important to me, too, Blake."

Blake nodded and smiled. "So...we're both pretty important to each other."

"Yeah. Important to each other."

"Tori."

"Blake."

They stopped, laughing nervously. Blake took her hand, stroking it with his finger. "Tori...we'll get through this. We'll get Cam back, Sensei back, and the others back." Tori nodded, looking down. She didn't move her hand from Blake's. She took a deep breath and looked back at him. Blake brought his other hand up to her face and lightly pulled her toward him. He leaned into her and gently kissed her. He pulled back and grinned. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time." Tori smiled at him and Blake put his arm around her. "So...after all of this is said and done, what do you say we go see a movie together? Just me and you."

"Like a date?"

"Oh, it's definitely a date. So, what do you say?"

Tori abruptly stood up, dropping Blake's hand. She turned away from him, smiling to herself and staring out at the water.

"Tor?" Blake stood up behind her. "Tori? Is it okay?"

Tori turned around and started laughing. "Of course I'll go out on a date with you."

"Then why..."

"I didn't want to make it easy for you." She laughed again and the two of them hugged and gave each other another kiss.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this sweet."

Tori and Blake broke apart, hearing a deep, angry, and robotic voice behind them. They saw a familiar-looking short, petite figure emerge from the woods. She was wearing pink shorts and a white vest. Tori noticed that her eyes were a dark, deep red. Almost like blood.

Blake shoved Tori behind him and stood protectively in front of her. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Kim laughed and walked towards them. She grabbed a few leaves from the branches and balled it up in her hand. She threw it in the air, blowing them higher up as they fell toward the ground. "What do I want?" she repeated, almost mockingly. "I want a lot of things. But who says that I could get it?" She laughed again, inching forward. "You think that life'll be perfect? For you and your little girlfriend? Well, here's news for you: life ain't perfect. And it'll only get worse!"

"Tor, call Billy," Blake whispered. He shielded her from Kim's sight and Tori crouched behind him, raising her morpher to her mouth.

"Billy?" she whispered. "Billy, just listen. Blake and I are right outside and Kimberly Hart is here."

"What are you doing back there, blue?" Kim asked, throwing a twig in their direction.

Blake and Tori easily dodged it, but stayed on guard. "Nothing," Tori answered.

"You two..." Kim laughed again. "You're the water chick, aren't you?" Tori glared at her. "Yeah, the water chick. And I bet when you grow up, you want to be a professional surfer, don't you? Well," Kim glared at Blake. "Make sure you drop him before he forgets about you. Before he decides that other things are more important than returning a phone call. Then you leave and he's dating the girl that you trusted to take care of your powers." She turned away from them. "But, I can do a favor for you, blue. In order to save you both from heartache...why don't I just kill both of you now."

Blake grabbed Tori. "You're not getting anywhere near us!"

"Kimberly!"

Blake and Tori turned at the voice. They saw Adam and Billy running toward them from Ninja Ops.

"Kimberly!" the two of them yelled again.

Kim looked unfazed at the two new arrivals. She barely glanced at them, keeping her gaze focused on Blake and Tori.

"Kim...come with us," pleaded Adam. He took a step toward her and held out his hand.

She looked at it as if he was holding a handful of cockroaches at her. "No, I'm good here," she said. "But, it's nice to see you again, black." Kim's red eyes bored into Adam's brown eyes. She shook her head. "Actually, not so nice to see you, again." Her eyes flashed a deeper red. "I see you've lost your power."

"No, I haven't. But Kim-"

"I'm not interested."

"What are you doing down here, Kim?" he asked, gently. He still held out his hand to her.

"What am I doing here?" She brought her index finger to her chin and looked as if she were thinking hard. "Hmm...you see, I came up with this plan. If I steal the elemental powers, I will be more powerful and mightier than all! And that includes you. And your new friends."

"Why? Why do you want all that power? What's the point?" Adam was glad that Kim didn't attack yet. He was even more glad that she was keeping up a fairly civil conversation with him. He knew there is still some level of humanity within Kim that made her lay off attacking him, Billy, Blake, and Tori outright.

"Well, black, let me explain it to you. Might controls everything. Therefore, I will control everything."

"You won't be able to control your feelings."

Kim yelled out loud, grabbing at her hair. It was so loud and terrifying that birds flew from the trees. Adam took a step forward, feeling as if he were getting through to her. She growled at him and retreated a few steps back. Adam held up his hands, showing Kim that he didn't have anything to fight her with.

"Kimberly..." Billy's voice sounded broken and tired. He's known Kim since they were kids and it broke his heart, seeing her so angry. Even though she was under an evil spell, and he knew that, Billy felt as though it was different this time. And he knew it was. The other times she had been under an evil spell, Billy knew the evil was the one clouding her mind. Now, Billy knew that it was her own troublesome emotions that ruled her.

"Kim..." he said, again. "Please, just come with us. I know this isn't you. I know that deep down, somewhere, you still care. I know that all you can think about right now is your anger, but please...try to remember."

Kim looked at him as if she were noticing him for the first time. She cocked her head to the side, not completely recognizing him. "And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Billy," he said, holding his hand up to his chest. "It's me. Billy. Your friend."

Kim narrowed her eyes. She glared at him, Adam, Blake, and Tori. "Friends? I don't need friends."

Adam's heart sank at the familiar words. She said almost the exact same thing the last time she was turned evil. "Kimberly, just try to remember," he pleaded. "I'm Adam. We're friends. We are."

Kim's eyes flashed again. She looked like she was about to say something, but suddenly stopped. "And what are you doing here?" she asked, facing away from Adam and the others.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Aisha popped up from behind the bushes. "I thought we were doing this together. And tomorrow."

Kim lazily shrugged. "I saw a chance and took it. Not my fault you're not on your game."

"Aisha," Adam said, rushing forward. "Aisha, it's me. It's Adam."

Aisha ignored Adam and stood face-to-face with Kim. "You were going to betray me."

"Yeah? So? What are you going to do about it?"

Aisha narrowed her eyes and dropped into a defensive stance. Kim copied her and the two of them circled around each other.

"What are you guys...Stop it!" Adam exclaimed.

Kim balled up her fists and held them in front of her, charging at Aisha. Before she could make any contact, the two of them suddenly disappeared, leaving Adam looking around bewildered at what just happened.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for the reviews! Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Ashley clapped her hands and exhaled in relief. She smiled at Shane and took the bloody towel from him. She carefully wrapped the arrowhead with it and gave it to Cassie, who looked at the bloody towel in disgust. Cassie begrudgingly took the towel and quickly placed it on the table.

"Great job, Ash," said TJ, bending over Rocky to look at the wound. "Do you think you should try and stitch it up?" He placed a clean towel on it and pressed down.

Ashley's face fell and she quickly shook her head. "Yeah, NO! I don't know how to stitch anybody up. I barely got through that." She pointed to the bloody towel and arrowhead. "I bet Billy could probably do it, though. Where is he, anyway?" she asked, looking around for him.

"Outside," Hunter said, carefully watching the monitors. "One of the psychos showed up and Tori and Blake called for help."

"Are they all right?" Shane asked, pulling off his gloves. He tossed them in the trash.

"Yeah, we're fine," Blake said, walking into the main room. He was closely followed by Tori, Adam, and Billy. He glanced back and gave Tori a smile.

"What happened out there?" asked Hunter. "What did she want?"

"We don't exactly know. She just showed up and started talking to us. Didn't make a move to attack or nothing."

"Which shows that she's in there," replied Adam, sighing. "I know she's in there."

Billy nodded and pressed a few buttons on the computer. "It is truly imperative that we pull them from this." He looked down sadly and shook his head. "I hate seeing Kim and Aisha like that."

"Wait, two of them were down there?" said Shane.

"They're not there anymore," replied Tori.

"You guys fought them?" asked Dustin.

"No," answered Adam. "They were about to fight each other, but they disappeared."

"I bet Lothor's not too thrilled that his rangers are fighting with each other," said Carlos. "Especially with Adam here and Rocky injured..."

"Let's just hope that the spell wore off on him," said Hunter.

"How is he?" Adam asked, glancing at his friend.

"Ashley got the arrowhead out," replied TJ. "Rocky's still out, but his blood pressure got pretty high. He's stable now, though."

Ashley carefully moved TJ's hand and cleaned out Rocky's wound. She and TJ then began placing large bandages over it.

* * *

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Lothor yelled, facing Kim and Aisha.

Kim nearly groaned out loud, seeing the smug looks on Tommy and Jason's faces. A rush of anger ignited within her; she wanted to tear them apart with her own two hands. She clenched her fists at her sides and stopped listening to Lothor yelling at them. All she could see was Tommy and Jason smirking at her. They were standing on either side of Lothor's chair and Kim briefly wondered where Marah and Kapri had gone to. She saw Aisha following Tommy and Jason out of the room and quickly followed them.

Jason shoved past her, laughing and shaking his head. "You always think with your emotions, stupid girl. When are you going to learn that emotion is the greatest weakness you have? And that's all that you have. Which, of course, means that you're weak. Always have and always will be."

"Oh I don't know, Jason," interrupted Tommy. "She was pretty heartless and emotionless whens he sent that letter to me. But I agree with you about the weakness, though. You are weak," he said, glaring at her. "And that was a pretty weak move, you know. A cowardly move. Couldn't even face me or call me." He shook his head. "And you used to be a Power Ranger? I wonder why Zordon even picked you in the first place. Should've just gone straight on to Katherine. Would you like me to say hello for you?"

Kim tried to not show how pissed she was getting. There were a million things that she wanted to yell at them, both of them, but she knew that if she did, she'd be playing right into their hands. Kim rolled her eyes at them. "Since when have the two of you suddenly become best friends?" She glared at Jason. "Don't you remember when you were the leader? The first red ranger. And this guy comes in and tries to run the show. And you let him. Zordon's golden boy, taking over everything."

Jason's eyes flashed red. "Shut up, Kimberly."

"New guy comes in, and suddenly, you're not Zordon's favorite anymore," she continued, ignoring Jason. "You're supposed to be the one we follow, but you don't even stand your ground when the new guy comes in? And then when he joined up with the team, you let his powers go to waste. Then the new guy leaves and when he comes back, he gets bigger and better powers, AND steals the team away from you, taking over as leader."

"Shut the hell up, Kimberly! I don't remember you complaining about him." He wagged a finger in her face. "In fact, I remember the two of you kissing up on each other at the Juice Bar while I did all the work!"

"Yeah." Kim nodded and casually threw a glance at Tommy. "Biggest mistake of my life."

* * *

"What if we try to lure them out?" said Dustin. "It seems like they show up, we go fight, somebody gets hurt, and they disappear. They're the ones controlling the fight. At least this time we'll be ready for them if we want them to come out."

"You know, that's not half-bad," said TJ, shaking his finger in agreement. "We should try and do something different like that. It'll throw them off their game, hopefully."

"And Adam, I think that you could actually go out there and help them," said Billy, hunched over a table, next to Cassie.

"What?" Adam looked at him, surprised. "Are you sure?"

Billy looked up and nodded. "Since the Ninjetti is one and the same with your spirit, the Power comes from within you."

"Use the Ninjetti power?" Adam looked a bit skeptical. "I don't know, Billy. What if I'm not completely over the spell?"

"I firmly believe that you are no longer under the evil spell, Adam."

"But the Ninjetti power? I haven't used that in...years. I can't even remember when I last did. I still have my Zeo powers, though, right?" He moved to shake his wrists.

Billy held up a hand and shook his head. "Don't use the Zeo powers. They'll more likely kill you than anything. The power source for the Zeo Crystal was destroyed when...well, when Zordon was destroyed."

Adam bit his lip, thinking hard. "You sure this is gonna work?"

"Affirmative." Billy shot him a thumbs up.

Adam nodded and exhaled. "Well, here goes nothing." He moved his arms around him and his body fell back into the familiar hand gestures. "Black ranger power!" Adam morphed into his old black Ninjetti suit with his head and face covered. "The Power of the Frog!" He looked down at himself in surprise, feeling the familiar embelm of the Frog on his chest with his fingertips. He pulled the coverings off of his face and grinned at Billy, pulling him into a hug "Oh man, thanks. I've missed this!"

Billy laughed. "You're welcome." He looked at TJ and Shane. "And Dustin's idea is a great one."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Tori. She was standing up, ready to morph at will. "Do we go out there and fight. Your friend, Kimberly, really seems to have it out for me. And I think I'm beginning to understand why." Adam mouthed an apology at her, which she brushed off, smiling at him.

"The rock quarry?" requested Shane. "It always seems like Lothor heads out there."

"Yeah, or the woods," added Blake.

"The quarry sounds good," said TJ. "Far from civilians and a lot of space." He looked around the room. "All right, I know that we all probably want to go out there, but it would be good if some of us stayed here." He gestured to Dustin and Hunter. "We don't want these guys to get any more hurt than they are, especially since you both have been healing so nicely and quickly. So, at least you'll have some company, right?" TJ grinned at them before looking around again. "Okay, Shane, Tori, Blake, me, Cassie, and Adam will go out there. Carlos, Ashley, you two help with Billy and Rocky. We'll call you if we need you." He nodded to Shane.

Shane looked at Tori and Blake. They stood on either side of him and prepared to morph. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

"Ninja storm. Ranger form!"

"Thunder storm. Ranger form!"

"Let's rocket!"

"Black ranger power!"

Adam went to Billy and gestured down to his suit. "If I could morph, doesn't it mean that you can?"

Billy shrugged. "It's been a long time since I've been a ranger, Adam."

"So? It's been a long time since I've been a ranger, too. It's not the same without you, Billy. It never was."

"You should go, Adam. They're leaving." Billy nodded to the ninja and space rangers.

Adam hesitated a bit before following the others. "I hope I get to see the blue wolf out there, Billy." He nodded to him and ran out.

Billy watched as Adam left with the other rangers. He stood there with a number of thoughts running through his head. _"Do I want to be a ranger, again?"_ he silently asked himself. _"Will it even work if I tried? Maybe it's been way too long..._" He moved toward the desk, next to Carlos, who had taken up Cassie's place. Billy looked at an old picture of him, Tommy, Adam, Kim, Aisha, and Rocky. The same picture that the ninja rangers found when they first heard who the psycho rangers were. _"We were so young then. Such good friends. What happened to us?"_

"Hey Billy! I think you can morph, like Adam," Carlos said, looking at the computer screen. "Adam's right, you know. If he could morph in the Ninjetti ranger, then so can you."

Billy just nodded. He moved next to Rocky and sat down. "Ashley, if you don't mind..."

"Oh, not at all, Billy," Ashley said, with understanding in her eyes. She took a step back and looked at Dustin, gently pressing a hand to his abdomen. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better!" he exclaimed loudly. "I think I could even morph and fight with them."

Ashley narrowed her eyes in a playful way and shook her head. "I don't think so, Dustin. But, you do look a lot stronger than you did, even just fifteen minutes ago. Do you want to try and move off of the bed?"

Dustin happily nodded. "Sure!"

Ashley smiled and slowly and carefully helped him off the bed.

Billy smiled at them, grateful for Ashley's innate ability to recognize that Billy wanted some alone time with his old friend. He looked at Rocky, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. At times, he would jerk around and Billy could tell that his brain was just going overtime. The the machine that was set up to Rocky was scribbling furiously across a sheet of paper."

"I really hope you're okay, Rocky. That you're really okay somewhere in there." Billy quietly exhaled, trying to find the right words. "Adam said earlier that I didn't say goodbye when I left for Aquitar. I know I didn't. I'm sorry. I really am. And I'm even more sorry that I stayed on Aquitar without telling anybody or saying goodbye again. And that I've never tried to get in touch with you. Or anyone else. We were really good friends, Rocky. I miss that."

Billy sighed and rubbed his head. He looked at the monitors that surrounded Rocky and noticed that he seemed to be calming down a bit.

"Do you ever miss being a ranger, Rocky? I know that both of us left the team because we chose to, but...do you ever wish you stayed just a bit longer? Don't get me wrong-Tanya was a fantastic ranger. I just...I guess I never realized before exactly how much I missed it. How much I missed all of you guys. When I went to Aquitar, it was like I had a whole new life. I wasn't 'Billy the Nerd' or 'Billy the Geek' anymore. I felt...I don't know how to describe it...accepted? I just left Earth and everything behind. I forgot about everything and it all became a distant dream. My life...it became a dream. And it didn't feel real to me, anymore. Aquitar...I tried so hard to make it my home and I convinced myself that it was...but now...I don't know. Aquitar...it was my life. It became my reality. And...I guess I just started to lose you guys. In my mind...maybe even in my heart."

Rocky suddenly started to violently cough. His red eyes shot open and wildly looked around in any and all directions. He coughed more violently and suddenly sat up, shaking so fast, that it looked as if he was seizing.

"Rocky?" Billy stood up and put his hands on his friend, trying to hold him back and calm him down. "Rocky, calm down!"

Ashley and Carlos ran over while Hunter slowly followed them, limping their way on his bad leg. Carlos tried holding Rocky's head steady, but Rocky kept thrashing around. With his good arm, Rocky threw Ahsley, Carlos, and Hunter from him and they clattered to the ground. He closed his eyes and clenched them, seemingly fighting a battle within himself. He violently shook and coughed loudly again. Rocky sat up straight and stared into Billy's eyes, pleading with his own.

"Rocky?" Billy asked in a more gentler voice. He leaned in closer to Rocky and saw the familiar brown eyes of his friend and former teammate. Billy grabbed a towel and used it to wipe the sweat that dripped down Rocky's face. "Are you all right?"

Rocky continued to look into Billy's eyes. He didn't say anything, but he stopped thrashing and grabbed his shoulder, wincing in pain. He looked around in confusion and then glanced back at Billy. "What's happening to me?" he asked, with tears in his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry for the wait! School is kicking my butt!

Here's the next chapter!

* * *

"The rangers are in the rock quarry," Tommy said to Lothor.

"Well...what are they doing there?" He stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "Hmm...I guess you're all just going to have to go down and fight them."

The four psycho rangers stood in position to morph. "It's psycho time!" yelled Tommy. In a flash, Tommy, Jason, Aisha, and Kim morphed into the four remaining psycho rangers.

"Good," said Lothor. He paced in front of them and stopped, facing Kimberly. "And pink, no accidents today, all right?" he said, with a smirk.

Kim turned away from him and inwardly groaned before following everyone. She knew they were all probably laughing at her or making fun of her without saying anything. "_Well, I'll show them,_" she thought.

In a flash, she and the other psycho rangers disappeared from Lothor's lair.

* * *

"Rocky?" Billy wearily asked. He carefully took a step toward Rocky, not breaking eye contact with him. "Do you know who I am?" Billy discreetly gestured to Ashley and Carlos, who stood behind Rocky, warning them to be prepared if Rocky was still under the spell.

"Yeah," Rocky answered in a tired voice. "You're Billy. Billy Cranston. And you're not a nerd or a geek."

Billy nodded at Ashley and Carlos, waving them down. "Okay," he said to Rocky. "Thank you. Ho do you feel?"

Rocky leaned back, lying down again. "I don't know what hurts more. My arm or my head."

"How do you feel?" Billy took a seat on Rocky's bed.

"Like a train just ran over me."

"I'll get you some water," Ashley said, walking off. She smiled at Billy before leaving.

"You gave us a scare there, man," Carlos said, extending his hand and tapping Rocky's shoulder.

Rocky looked at him in confusion. "Who are you?"

"I'm Carlos. Adam left the Turbo power to me when he left the team."

Rocky briefly glanced down at Carlos' black shirt underneath his grey jacket. "I thought Adam was the green Turbo ranger."

"He was. I just...well, to make a long story short, I upgraded powers when Divatox destroyed the Power Chamber." Carlos gestured to Hunter, whom he had helped stand up. "This is Hunter. The current crimson ninja ranger. That's Dustin over there." Carlos pointed across the room.

Dustin grinned and happliy waved. "I'm the yellow ninja ranger."

Rocky nodded at him, still looking a little confused. He glanced at Hunter. "Crimson ranger? Like red?"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, in a way."

Rocky nodded again, lying back and closing his eyes. "So...what am I doing here?" he asked in a tired voice.

"You don't remember anything?" asked Billy.

Rocky shook his head. "I...I don't know...I see flashes of...weird things...a girl with pink hair."

"Kapri," supplied Dustin.

"...And...Tommy...Kimberly...Adam...Jason..."

"And Aisha?" Billy said, gently.

Rocky kept his eyes closed and slowly nodded his head. "That really happened? But...but I remember..."

"It's okay." Billy put his hand on Rocky's shoulder. "It's okay."

* * *

"Nice of you to join us," TJ said, stepping forward, to face the psycho rangers.

"Well, we didn't know there was a party going on," said Jason. "Otherwise, I would've brought some cake and ice cream." He noticed that Adam standing among the rangers in the black Ninjetti suit. "It's really nice to see you, black. Although...I don't think frogs really suit you. A cockroach, maybe, but a frog? Come on, now," Jason scoffed.

Adam ignored Jason. Instead, he looked firmly at Kim. Adam figured that if he could somehow just get her to look into his eyes and talk, he could get through to her. He felt like he was making some progress earlier. _"If only Aisha didn't show up,_" he thought, wryly. He noticed the psycho rangers had pulled out their weapons and pointed it toward him and the other rangers. Adam shook his head and raised his hands in surrender. "Kimberly..." Adam said, keeping his hands raised at his shoulders.

"One step closer, frog," threatened Tommy, holding up his sword. "And I cut your head off."

Adam briefly glanced at Tommy. He could see a faint glow of red beneath Tommy's visor and he tightly gripped his sword to Adam's neck. Adam looked down at the shiny glint of the blade and took a half-step back.

"Tommy?" he started. "Tommy, man, come on! You're my friend!"

"Friend? When was the last time you called me? When was the last time we hung out? Where were you at my races? Where were you when I decided to go into paleontology? When I stayed up all night trying to study to even get into grad school? Huh? Where were you?"

With every word, Adam could feel a sharp pang in his chest even though Tommy steadily held his sword at Adam's neck. He couldn't even find the words to say to respond to him.

Tommy just laughed. He dropped the sword and took a step closer to Adam. He looked down into Adam's eyes. "Yeah. That's what I thought? Nothing." He threw a swing kick that Adam narrowly avoided and gestured for the other psycho rangers to charge at them.

Jason waved his sword around, heading straight for Shane. "You and me, red. Let's dance."

Shane pulled out his ninja sword and used it to block Jason's attack. He was on defense, going backwards and trying to quickly block Jason's hits as fast as he can.

Tommy glared at Adam and took a step toward him. TJ ran into Tommy, knocking him into the ground. Tommy threw TJ off of him and jumped up, growling at him. He threw his sword to the ground and jumped toward TJ, swinging his arms, trying to throw a punch in. TJ avoided Tommy's hits, but was also trying to throw some punches. "Just try and get them back, Adam!" TJ yelled.

Adam nodded and looked around for Kim and Aisha. He saw Aisha and Cassie fighting each other at the top of a large rock and he briefly wondered how and when they got up there. Adam looked around and groaned, seeing Kim use her Power Bow to strike Tori and Blake across their chests.

Sparks flew and they quickly fell backward. "What is with her and them?" he asked out loud. He ran over and grabbed Kim from behind.

"Ugh!" she yelled, struggling against him. "Let me go!"

"Kim, please," he said, softly into the ear of her helmet. "I know this isn't you. I know you're there somewhere. Please, just get through it."

Kim struggled against Adam's strong grip. "Let go of me," she said in a slow, dangerous voice.

"Kim. You're my friend and I'm not going to give up."

Kim screamed and used her elbow to strike Adam in his chest. She brought her foot up and kicked backwards, into his groin. Adam let go of her in pain and she dropped, landing to her feet. She looked around and found Tori and Blake. "What happened, blues? Tired already?" she taunted and laughed. "Oh, I'm just getting started." She ran to them, mixing in a few flips and cartwheels. She kicked Tori and aimed an arrow at Blake. "Say goodbye to your girlfriend, dark blue. And you," Kim said, nodding in Tori's direction. "I'm doing you a favor. You could thank me later." She pulled the string of her bow back, carefully holding her arrow tight.

"No!" yelled Tori, trying to stand up.

* * *

"Well, they're out there," said Carlos, watching the monitors.

"How are they doing?" asked Hunter, limping next to him.

"Um...looks pretty even, right now. Shane and Jason. TJ and Tommy. Cass and Aisha."

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know. The screen's not picking up their signal or Kimberly's."

"Carlos, try locking in on Blake or Tori's morpher," said Billy. "Or Adam's power. That should help."

"Will do, Billy," replied Carlos.

Rocky opened his eyes and slowly sat up. "What's going on out there, anyway?" He threw his legs across the side of the bed and tried to get off, but Billy stopped him.

"You shouldn't move, Rocky."

"He's right, you know," Ashley said, handing Rocky a plastic cup of water. "I'm Ashley, the yellow space ranger. Tanya passed her Turbo powers on to me when she left the team." She held up a long piece of cloth. "Here, this should help." She sat down next to him and carefully wrapped Rocky's arm up as if it was in a sling. "How are you feeling, anyway?"

Rocky finished drinking and set the cup down next to him. "A little better. The room stopped spinning a bit. My shoulder's killing me, though."

"Sorry about that. I am not a doctor."

"Ashley, here, saved your life." Billy gestured to her and grinned. "She got the arrowhead out."

Rocky looked at her and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Ashley."

"It's no problem, at all. I know you guys would probably do the same for me."

Rocky nodded slowly. "So...how did...how...why was...the arrow..."

"Kimberly actually was the one who hit you with it. She was aiming for Tori, the blue ninja ranger, and you accidently got in the line of fire."

Rocky bit his lip and nodded. "Was anyone else hurt?"

"Dustin and Hunter."

Rocky glanced at both of them. He saw Hunter hunched over the computer monitors with Carlos and noticed his leg wrapped up. He glanced over at Dustin, who was flipping through a motocross magazine, but was gripping his abdomen and wincing at different times.

"And everybody else? Tommy? Aisha?"

Billy shook his head, sadly. "Only Adam's turned good. You were all put under a spell. We're still trying to figure everything out, but...I don't know. I've never felt so helpless."

"You're still helping, Billy. I don't think I would've pulled through if it weren't for you. I miss all of you, too, and...sometimes, I do still wish I was a ranger. I just...I don't know."

Billy put his hand on Rocky's shoulder. "Guess we've got some things to do, then, right?"

Rocky smiled and nodded. "I miss the days of studying in the Youth Center."

Billy laughed. "I do, too."

Ashley smiled at the both of them and felt a little awkward at witnessing such a personal moment. "I'm glad things are working out for you, both." She leaned into Rocky. "But you've really got to rest that shoulder up. The poison and the whole going evil thing..."

Rocky nodded. "The life of a former ranger is never enough, right?"

"Uh-oh. Blake's in trouble," said Carlos. "Kimberly's holding an arrow to his heart at point-blank range."

"I have to go help him," said Hunter. He tried putting his weight on his leg as he pulled out his ninja morpher. "Thunder-"

"No!" exclaimed Carlos. "You'll only hurt yourself, more." He looked at Ashley and nodded. "We'll go." The two of them stood up. "Let's rocket!"

* * *

"No!" Tori yelled again. "Don't! Not him!"

Blake looked up and involuntarily de-morphed. He raised his hands, defeated. "Okay, psycho pink. You win. But don't hurt Tori. Do whatever you want with me. Just don't hurt her."

Kim cocked her head to the side and de-morphed. She grinned and her eyes glowed a deep red. She still held her Power Bow at Blake. She laughed out loud. "Aw. How nice."

"KIMBERLY!" Adam yelled, scrambling to get up. "DON'T DO IT!"

"Goodbye, navy. Being a Power Ranger really has its ups and downs, doesn't it?"

Blake gave Tori one last look and nodded to her. She screamed and dropped to her knees. "Blake!" Blake closed his eyes and waited.

"Kimberly, no!"

Kimberly's eyes glowed red and she grinned, licking her lips. She pulled the string back and let go.


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you all for the reviews! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Blake tensed up, readying himself for the oncoming arrow. He heard the swish of the arrow, but didn't feel it. Blake opened his eyes and looked around quickly. He saw Ashley and Carlos flying in on their galaxy gliders, each of them holding out their blasters, pointing it toward them. Kim had fallen to the ground and was holding her arm into her body. Her eyes glowed red and she looked around at each of them, angrily, and snarled at them before disappearing.

"Are you guys all right?" Ashley asked, jumping off of her yellow galaxy glider. She and Carlos ran toward Blake, Tori, and Adam, helping them up.

Tori ran over to Blake and de-morphed before throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Don't scare me like that, again!"

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, extending a hand to Adam.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, we are. Tori? Blake?"

"We're fine," Tori answered. "We're going to head back, if that's okay."

Adam nodded. "That's fine."

Blake shook his head. "No, we're gonna keep on fighting."

"Blake, please," said Tori. "Let's just go back. I don't normally ask, but this time...please."

"We'll be fine, Blake," replied Adam. "Go ahead."

Reluctantly, Blake took Tori's hand and the two of them teleported away.

"So, where are the others?" asked Ashley, looking around.

"Over there," answered Carlos, pointing.

Ashley, Carlos, and Adam ran over to see where the others were. Shane and Jason were still exchanging blows and the loud clangs of the swords echoed throughout the empty space. TJ and Tommy were near them, while Aisha and Cassie were still atop the rocks. Carlos ran over to Shane and Jason and tried to jump in, but Jason threw him aside with his sword, ripping his black and white ranger suit. Carlos immediately looked down at the ripped part of his suit and saw blood. He groaned and motioned to Ashley that he was leaving. Ashley nodded as she headed toward Cassie and Aisha and Carlos quickly disappeared.

"Cassie!" Ashley yelled. "I'm coming, Cass!" Ashley looked up at Cassie and Aisha, noticing how they were dangerously close to the edge of the rock. "Watch out, Cassie!"

Cassie heard Ashley's voice and glanced down. "Ashley? Ashley, stay back!"

Aisha took advantage of Cassie's momentary distraction and threw a swing kick at her. Cassie lost her balance and fell over the cliff, gripping the edge of the rock.

"CASSIE!" Ashley yelled. "HANG ON! I'M COMING!" She turned around and yelled for someone to help her. Ashley tried to climb up the rocks, but couldn't get an even footing on it.

Aisha looked down at Cassie and laughed. She rubbed her hands together. "Ooh...this will be fun, won't it?" She laughed again and tried to stamp on Cassie's fingers with her boot. Cassie was able to quickly dodge Aisha's foot, but was quickly losing her grip.

Cassie groaned and tried to reach further up onto the edge. Her fingers were slipping and she could feel her power draining a bit. "Come on," she said to herself. Cassie looked down and saw how high up she was. Her hands started to grow sweaty underneath her gloves and she struggled to hold on. "Come on, Cassie, you could do this!"

"No, you can't!" exclaimed Aisha. Aisha raised her foot and stamped it down hard. At the last second, Cassie raised her hand and instead of moving it out of the way, she grabbed Aisha's foot, causing them both to fall off the side.

"CASSIE!" Ashley yelled. She raised her arms as if she had the strength to catch and carry them or even as if she could somehow break their fall. Instead, she watched helplessly as Cassie and Ashley both hit the rocks at the bottom, both of them de-morphing involuntarily. "Cass, are you all right?" she asked, running to her side. Ashley glanced at Aisha, who seemed to be knocked unconscious.

Cassie looked up at Ashley, groaning and rubbing her side. "Yeah, I think so. The whole left side of my body hurts, though."

"Okay, don't try to move. I'm gonna call Billy and see if he could teleport you back to Ninja Ops." She smiled at Cassie and hugged her. "Everything will be fine." Ashley raised her wrist to her mouth. "Billy, Cassie and Aisha fell over the side of a...a cliff. Can you get them back to Ninja Ops?"

"Yes," answered Billy. "Teleporting...now"

In a flash of pink and yellow, Cassie and Aisha disappeared. Ashley stood up and ran back to the other rangers. "You guys good?" she asked, running up to TJ and Adam.

TJ nodded. "A little help is always good." He, Ashley, and Adam faced Tommy. They tensed up, ready to fight, but waited for Tommy to make the first move.

"Until next time, rangers," Tommy said. He laughed evilly and disappeared, along with Jason, in a flash of red and gold.

* * *

"Make sure it's tight," Billy directed to Hunter, who was tying Aisha up to another makeshift bed. "We don't know how hard her fall was or if it'll knock her out of the spell."

"But she's going to be all right, right?" asked Rocky, worriedly. He was sitting next to her bed, holding her hand with his good hand. The other arm was still wrapped in a sling.

Billy grimly smiled. "I don't know, Rocky," he answered, truthfully. "I hope so." He put his hand on Rocky's shoulder and moved on to Cassie. "How are you feeling?" He gently pressed against the left side of her abdomen.

"Ow!" she said. "Hurts there."

"Sorry," Billy apologized. "Do you mind if I..."

"No, it's okay."

He pulled up her shirt a bit and carefully pressed against her torso. "Does that hurt?"

Cassie nodded. "Yeah, a bit."

"It looks like it's just a bit of bruising. It doesn't look as if you've broken any ribs or anything."

"And my leg doesn't feel broken."

"Does it hurt?"

Cassie shook her head. "And I could move my arm." She raised her arm and circled it around her. "It just hurts a bit."

Billy nodded. "Okay. I think you just need some ice and rest, all right. Just lie back and I'll get it for you."

Cassie nodded as she leaned back onto the bed. "Thanks, Billy. I really don't feel all too bad. I bet by tomorrow I'll be as good as new." She looked over at Aisha. "I just hope Aisha makes it through."

"Me too."

"Please make it through, 'Sha..." Rocky said, softly. He stroked her cheek, taking in the look of peace on her face. "I...I missed you so much. And I...I...wish that...that I could just..." Rocky exhaled, taking Aisha's hand again. "I just miss you. So much. And...I..."

Cassie silently watched Rocky and Aisha, biting her lip. "What happened?" Cassie asked, softly. "Between you and everyone else. How did things get so..."

"Out of hand? How did things get so bad between us that once under an evil spell we just want to kill each other?" said Rocky.

Cassie nodded. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I don't want to...over step or anything."

Rocky shook his head. "No, it's no problem." He looked at Aisha and smiled a bit. "I don't know what happened. When I left the team...it was hard to deal with. I thought I was ready...but...now that I look back at it, I don't think I was. When she left...I don't know...it was weird. I'm sure it was weird for them when we got there, but when Aisha left...it was me, her, and Adam for so long that...I don't know, I kind of lost my way a bit, I guess. I didn't want them to know, none of them...so I tried to hide as best as I could. I couldn't...I don't know, I just missed her so much. I never got the chance to tell her how I felt about her. So, when I had a chance to get an out when I hurt my back, I took it. Now...I just...I can't believe that I was selfish enough to put that kind of burden on a kid. Just so...I could...I don't know what I was thinking about."

"But Justin was more than just a kid. He could handle being a...a teenage superhero. And when he wanted to leave, he took it, too. He never once complained about it."

Rocky nodded. "Yeah, he was a good kid."

"So...what happened after you left the team? Did you follow Aisha to Africa?"

Rocky shook his head. "No. Too cowardly. I didn't know what to expect. I was afraid at what to expect. What would she say? Would she laugh at me? Would she not feel the same...I just...crawled into the little hole of my karate schools and then decided to go into culinary school."

"Have you spoken to her since?"

"No. I haven't talked to anyone of them since I left the team." Rocky shrugged and shook his heaed. "I wish I had. I wish that...things were different, you know."

"Well, things happen for a reason. Maybe you guys are back together now so you can all learn from the past."

Rocky nodded. "I hope so." He stroked her hand. "I...what if she doesn't come back? What if Jason and Tommy and Kim and all of them...what if they don't come back?"

"We can't think like that, Rocky. You know we just have to think positively. We, as Power Rangers, have always found our way into some sticky situations before. And we've always found a way out of it, right?"

Rocky laughed a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I remember being turned into a giant plant once."

"The original psycho rangers were pretty hard to fight, too."

"What happened with that, anyway? I'm kind of...well, I've been pretty out of the loop when it comes to ranger history, other than my own. Other than a red ranger mission that I heard about."

Cassie nodded. "Yeah, Andros and Tommy were kind of in charge of that. Weren't you there, though? Red Ninjetti ranger?"

Rocky shook his head. "No. I wasn't there."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Rocky shook his head again. "No, it's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault, really. I purposely tried to stay away from all ranger-type things and...I guess I did it too well. When I was under the spell, though...I did kind of...I felt the bad feelings and thoughts run through my mind. I hated them, all of them and...I was jealous of them. Tommy and Jason. Even the others."

"Well, that makes sense. You guys were under an evil spell. Everything bad always comes up, right?"

"It was kind of different, though. I mean, I still don't really remember too much about being under the spell, but...I don't remember feeling evil. I remember when I was under an evil spell before or under some spell before that I felt out of my body. It felt like a different person. Like it was me watching another person with my face and my body. But this time...it was me. It was all me."

Cassie held out her good hand and patted Rocky on his shoulder. "We'll get the rest of your friends back. I'm sure of it."

"Here you go," Billy said. He and Hunter dumped a bunch of bags of ice onto the bed and rearranged it to form to Cassie's body. "There you go. Hopefully, there won't be too much swelling."

"Thanks Billy."

"No problem." He put his hand on Hunter's shoulder. "How's your brother and Tori?"

Hunter looked back at Tori and Blake, hugging each other and softly talking to each other in the corner. "They're fine," he answered. "He likes that stuff, though. Close to death and all that. I think my heart rate's still going. And I'm supposed to be the badass one."

Cassie, Billy, and Rocky laughed. "Well, you look like you're moving better," said Cassie. "How's the leg?"

"It still hurts, but...I'm getting there. Thank God for awesome ranger healing powers right?"

"Oh yeah. That's always good."

In a flash, Ashley, Adam, Shane and TJ appeared in Ninja Ops. They immediately de-morphed and quickly glanced around the room. "How's everyone?" asked TJ.

"Good," answered Billy, automatically. "Cassie escaped with just some bumps and bruises. Tori and Blake are safe and fine. Hunter, here, his leg is healing nicely. Same thing with Dustin." Billy nodded over to Dustin, who was flipping through a motocross magazine, oblivious to everyone in the room. "And Carlos is in the bathroom, cleaning himself up."

"How is he?" asked Ashley.

"Fine. Just a scratch."

"And Aisha?" asked Adam.

Rocky shrugged. "She's breathing and is stable, but she's not conscious."

"Any idea if she's still under the spell?"

Billy shrugged. "It's hard to say."

"Will she be okay?" Adam moved a chair and sat down next to Rocky, who promptly let go of her hand.

"I hope so."

"I hope so, too." Adam rubbed Aisha's arm. "You and everyone else."


	16. Chapter 16

Again, thank you all for reading!

I know Cam didn't have the special ninja ranger powers (speed and all that), but let's just go with it here. =)

Here's the new chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Lothor yelled in frustration at his three remaining psycho rangers. "WHY IS THAT EVERY TIME YOU RETURN, THERE IS ONE LESS PSYCHO!" He walked up and down in front of the unmorphed psycho rangers and struck each of them in the face. When he reached Kim, he struck her on each side of her face and grabbed her bleeding arm, closing his fist around it. "AND YOU! YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!"

Kim bit the inside of her lip, determined to not show any pain. She didn't say anything to Lothor, just stared defiantly in his eyes. _"You won't break me," _she thought. "_I'll make sure of it."_ She glanced sideways at Jason and Tommy. They stared straight ahead with expressionless faces. Kim inwardly groaned. Of courses they weren't going to back her up. To each his or her own. She didn't really care too much. Kim was used to both of them not being there for her. And she's already made it this far without them.

Lothor harshly let go of Kim's arm. She silently took in her breath and cradled her arm. Lothor took a seat and gestured for the three psychos to come closer. They reluctantly gathered around his throne-like chair and waited for whatever Lothor was going to give them. He gestured around again and Marah and Kapri brought in a strange-looking machine.

"Thank you, nieces," he said. "You may leave now."

"Aw, but we want to watch!" exclaimed Kapri.

"Yeah, Uncle," added Marah. "Can't we just watch?"

"Fine!" Lothor yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "But stay out of the way!"

Marah and Kapri clapped their hands and moved to one side of the room, joining Choobo and Lothor's other generals. Kim, Jason, and Tommy threw a sideways glance at each other, unsure at what was coming to them. Tommy eyed the machine warily and his dark red eyes glowed brightly in the dimly lit room.

"I'm tired of those damn rangers taking one of my rangers every time you go down there and fight them. We're going to catch them by surprise and hit them where it hurts." Lothor gestured to Marah and Kapri. "My nieces have been doing some research on these so-called space, astro rangers. Whatever they're called. And so I've been able to get some voice recordings of the rangers. **_All_** of them. And with this clever machine here," Lothor gestured to the small, canon-looking machine that Marah and Kapri had brought in, "when you hear their voice, you will be alerted to where they are and surprise them. Attack them, if you will. Kill them, if you must. By all means, destroy them. Just make sure you get their powers first. Then I can conquer Earth and become the ultimate evil ninja ranger master!" Lothor let out a hearty laugh and jumped out of his seat. He bent down to pick up the machine and looked at Jason. "Well, original red. You're up first."

Jason glanced at Kim and Tommy with a harsh look and took a step forward. He looked straight at Lothor, squared his shoulders and was ready for the blast to come.

Lothor laughed and readied the machine. "Oh, and rangers? This will reinforce your evil. Those good rangers seem to be having an easy time at turning my psychos good. And I don't like that too much. But no matter, traitors will be dealt with." Lothor raised the gun and counted down. When he reached one, Lothor pressed the large red button and aimed at the red laser beam toward Jason's chest.

The beam caused Jason to levitate in the middle of the room, encasing him in a red glow. Jason's eyes were red and and he stretched his arms around him, embracing his power growth. He let out a loud roar, shaking the entire room. Marah and Kapri covered their ears and dropped to the ground.

"How do you like that, boy?" Lothor asked, grinning. "Looking good!"

Jason roared again and Lothor continued to grin, nodding his approval. "All right, next. Miss pink psycho."

Kimberly hestitantly stepped forward and closed her eyes, waiting for the blast. At once, she saw herself and Aisha sitting on a couch and laughing. Kim quickly opened her eyes and she glanced back at Tommy, who merely stared back with an indifferent look. Kim furrowed her brow, confused by her brief vision, and looked ahead at Lothor.

"Now, I know you've made some mistakes, pink, but I'm willing to forgive you," said Lothor. "Who knows, in the future, maybe I'll need a queen to rule alongside me."

Kim tried to not show disgust in her face and settled for scowling at him. Her eyes glowed red and like Jason, she squared her shoulders and waited for the blast. Lothor grinned and pressed the red button, aiming the laser beam at Kim. She was immediately raised in the red glow and embraced this growth in her power. Lothor laughed out loud, clearly enjoying himself.

Tommy curiously watched Kim, waiting for his turn, and wondered why she had given him that look. "_No, Tommy!" _he mentally scolded himself. "_Don't get caught up in that, again. She's just going to break your heart again."_ His face turned to stone as he blankly watched Kim, who was now completely surrounded by the red glow. His ears perked up, hearing heavy breathing that wasn't present in the room before.

He glanced around the room, but didn't see anything. In a quick second, a flash of green blurred across the room, knocking everyone down. Lothor landed on top of the machine, with the button pressed down without any assistance. Kim was still encased in the red glow, beginning to shake from the evil power surging through her.

"What happened?" demanded Jason. He was the only one quick enough to dodge the attack.

"Did you forget the number one rule of the ninja?" Cam emerged from the shadows. His face was swollen and bruised.

"Ninja?" scoffed Lothor. "You're no ninja!"

"Fine. Then did you forget the number one rule of the samurai?" Lothor gave him a clueless look. He dropped the canon, not seeing that the button was stuck and Kim was still on the receiving end of the beam. "Never underestimate your opponent," Cam said, triumphantly. He looked around and grinned. "I see you've lost some of your psycho rangers. Hmm...I wonder why. Good always trumps evil."

Lothor growled at him. He looked back at Jason, Tommy, and the rest of his generals. "Get him!"

Tommy and Jason ran for Cam and the three of them began to fight. Choobo and the other generals ran from the room in fear as Lothor started yelling and throwing things. Amidst the chaos, Marah and Kapri crawled to the forgotten canon machine and picked it up.

"Marah, stop pressing the button!" scolded Kapri. "We don't want psycho pink to get more powerful than Uncle!"

"I'm not pressing it, Kapri!" protested Marah. "It's stuck!"

"It's stuck because you broke it!"

"No, I didn't! It was like that when I found it."

"I found it!"

"Then you broke it!"

"No, I didn't! Here, give it to me. I could fix it."

"No, I'll fix it!"

"No, give it to me!"

Marah and Kapri tugged on the machine, trying to pull it away from the other. They felt the machine begin to shake uncontrollably and the two of them started tossing it at each other.

"Marah, take it!"

"No, you take it!"

"No, you!"

They threw it up and it exploded in mid-air, causing everyone to fall down. Marah and Kapri fell to the ground and huddled together to hide. Jason, Tommy, and Cam fell down and Lothor had fallen in front of his chair. All of them shielded their eyes from the blinding red light.

An eerie, deep and slow laughter emerged from the light. Kim eyed them all and paced around the room. "Well, now, this is what each girl likes to see. A bunch of guys on the ground, waiting on her." She laughed. "But that's not what's really going on, is it?"

She threw out her hand towards Jason, Cam, and Tommy and a red beam emitted from it, hitting them and throwing them into the air. They landed in different places around the lair with a loud and resounding thud. Marah and Kapri gasped and clenched each other, hiding out of sight.

Kim laughed and slowly approached Lothor. "You say I can't do anything right?" she said, softly. "I guess I should show you what I actually can do, then, right?" She gestured to her once-bleeding arm. "Looks like that's all fixed."

Lothor looked up, afraid of her. "Psy-psy...psycho p-p-p-pink," he stammered. "I just want the...I wanted the best...just the best for you."

"Oh," Kim said, grinning. Her red eyes flashed an even brighter of red. "Well, then. That changes things, doesn't it?" She wiped her hands on her shorts and stood in front of Lothor. Kim threw them both out at him and red beams struck Lothor, raising him into the air. "I'll show you what's best for you." She roughly motioned to the side and Lothor followed, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch.

Kim stood in the center of the room and slowly turned around. She carefully looked at Lothor, Cam, Jason, and finally Tommy. "Oh, just wait. I am just getting started. Those powers will be mine!" She maniacally laughed and her red eyes brightly shone in the dark room. She disappeared in a pink beam of light and left behind dark, crimson smoke.

* * *

There's that chapter. Thanks for reading! Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you all again for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Hunter gingerly put his weight on his hurt leg. He winced when he felt pain, but he continued to push through it.

"How's it feeling?" asked Ashley, standing near him.

"It's better...but I know I still won't be able to walk very well."

"You should rest it now. Don't do too much before you're ready."

"I know. I just wish that I could help out, somehow."

Ashley smiled. "I know it's hard. But you'll be back on your feet in no time." She gave him a hug. "You know what. Why don't we get out of here. Get your minds off of everything here." She looked around. "We should all take some time and go."

Cassie looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, come on, Ashley. Somebody's got to stay here." She darted her eyes at Aisha. "And what if Andros or Zhane come back."

Ashley widened her eyes at Cassie. "Come on, Cass. They need a break. Clear their heads. Don't you remember when we were fighting the psychos? We still needed an out."

"She's right, Cassie," said Billy. "We'll stay here with Aisha." He gestured to himself, Rocky, and Adam. Adam and Rocky nodded from their seats next to an unconscious Aisha.

"Are you sure?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, it's fine. Do you guys all feel okay to move? Hunter, Dustin, Cass, Carlos?"

Carlos and Cassie nodded. Dustin shot up before groaning and sitting back down. "That sounds like fun! I need to tell Kelly that-"

"-that you've been sick," interrupted Tori.

"Oh, that's right. I feel better already."

Billy smiled at them. "You guys better hurry. Before Jason, Tommy, and Kim come down."

"Do you think Aisha's out from the spell?" asked Shane.

Billy shrugged. "It's hard to say. But we've got her strapped in."

"Okay. Just give us a call."

"Of course."

* * *

"What happened?" Marah asked, pulling Kapri from their hiding place.

Lothor roared. "HELP ME UP!"

Marah and Kapri immediately ran over to help him up. "Are you okay, Uncle?"

"Am I okay? Of course I'm not okay! What happened? How did she gain all of the power?"

"The button was stuck, Uncle. When the green ranger attacked."

Lothor threw a death glare in Cam's direction. He stomped over and kicked Cam in his chest. Cam doubled over in pain. "You lost me my third psycho ranger, boy!"

"Gladly!" Cam spat back.

Lothor knelt down and grabbed Cam by his hair. "You don't realize what this means, do you?" He threw Cam down, causing him to hit his head against the stone floor. "I harnessed the powers of the Abyss of Evil and the powers of the ninja schools that I have captured into one. I was going to divide it between my three remaining psycho rangers. But now, the majority of that power lies within one person. A person who is angry, bitter, and hurt. At the world. Do you have any idea how much danger we are all in?"

"Well, it's your own fault. If you hadn't made the psycho rangers in the first place, none of this would've happened."

"I'm evil. It's what I do."

"So, what? You expect me to work with you now?"

"And actually," interrupted Kapri. "It's your fault. If you hadn't attacked us all-"

"The button wouldn't have gotten stuck," added Marah, "And she wouldn't have all the power."

Lothor nodded in agreement. "And if we're all destroyed, we have you to thank. Take him away!" Jason and Tommy picked Cam up by his arms and roughly tossed him from the room. They harshly threw him into the cell and proceeded to chain him up to the wall.

"You guys will never get away with this!" Cam angrily yelled out.

"And when we do?" Jason asked in a low voice.

"They'll come after you! They'll retrieve my father and the rangers will break me out. I'm sure of it."

Tommy laughed. "We'll see how that goes for you."

"PSYCHOS!" They both turned at Lothor's voice. Jason slammed the cell door shut and he and Tommy headed back to Lothor.

* * *

Kimberly was standing at the top of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. Her hair was blowing in the wind and her eyes glowed red in the direction of the ocean. She was pondering her next move, wondering who she should take out first: the Power Rangers or the Psycho Rangers. She knew it would be easier to possibly take out the two remaining psychos before taking out the rest of the rangers. And then she would leave Lothor for last.

_"Or maybe Tommy should be last,"_ she thought. She shook her head and figured that she'd just take her time, figuring out what to do next.

Kimberly cocked her head to the side, listening to the ocean sounds. The waves crashing against the ocean were kind of soothing to her. It made her feel...calm. And it somehow put her mind at ease.

"Let's just stop by Storm Chargers, first!" Kim heard. She registered that voice in her mind and immediately knew that it was Tori, the blue ninja ranger. She looked around and saw Tori heading back from the sand with who she recognized as Blake, the navy ninja ranger.

Kim's eyes narrowed at the sight of them. _"Ah, well that settles it. Those two first." _She watched as they jumped into Tori's van and drove off. Kim decided to wait for a bit and take them all by surprise. She listened to the wind, trying to pick up the voices of any of the other rangers. Kim looked around the beach and saw that it was almost deserted. Only a few people were down on the far end of the beach.

She turned from the edge of the cliff and took one last look at the ocean. Kim decided to head into town, feeling as if she would have better luck finding the rest of the rangers there. She knew that Tori and Blake and probably the other rangers would be at that store that Tori was talking about, Storm Chargers. She decided to head there last.

* * *

"Hey, this is a cool place," Ashley said, looking around. She ran her hands through a rack of t-shirts and looked at Kelly. "It's nice here."

"Thank you, Ashley," Kelly replied. "How long are you visiting your cousin for?" She gestured over to Dustin, who was sitting behind the cash register, trying to work on his bike. "I heard he's been sick for a bit."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, it kinda sucks. But my friends and I are just passing through. I'm not sure how long we'll be in town for."

"It's nice to meet you, though. Dustin never mentioned any cousins."

"Oh, yeah..." Ashley thought hard, trying to come up with a good enough lie. "Our parents...they don't really get along." She made a mental note to tell Dustin what she was telling Kelly later.

"Aw, family not getting along always hurts," Kelly replied with a sympathetic smile. "But you and your friends are always welcome here." She gestured around. "Take a look and let me know if you need help with anything."

Ashley nodded and smiled. "Thanks Kelly." She went over to Cassie and TJ, who were looking through the surfboards.

"Ash, this one's perfect for you!" Cassie exclaimed, gesturing her over. She pulled out a yellow surfboard, trimmed with white.

Ashley made a face at her. "Surfing? Not really my thing."

"It's not mine either, but it's always fun to look at."

"And this coming from the girl who didn't even want to come out."

Cassie made a face at her. "All right, all right. It was a great idea to come out." She dropped her voice and leaned into Ashley and TJ. "Isn't it weird going in and out of a waterfall?"

TJ laughed before dropping his own voice. "This coming from the girl who spent the last five years of her life on a space ship."

Ashley laughed and Cassie playfully hit him. "Hey, just stay out of it!"

"Taking up surfing, guys?"

Cassie, Ashley, and TJ, with smiles on their faces, turned around and saw Tori approaching them.

"That's a nice board," Tori said, gesturing to the yellow surfboard in Ashley's hands.

"Hey Tori!" she replied. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Blake were headed for the beach." Ashley looked at the board and made a face. "And no, I'm not taking up surfing. We were just looking."

Tori smiled. "Always fun to try, though, right? And Blake and I were headed to the beach, but...eh, didn't feel like it anymore. No waves and not very many people were there, anyway. And Blake wanted to go riding, but without Hunter and Dustin...I think he felt a little weird by himself. Especially since they're not out there with him." She looked over at Blake, who had taken to the back room with Hunter, Carlos, Dustin, and Shane. "So we just decided to come here."

"Are you okay, Tori?"" Cassie asked. She put her hand on Tori's shoulder.

"This is beginning to sound like girl talk," said TJ, carefully replacing the red and blue surfboard he was holding back onto the display. "I'm heading back there to hang out with the guys." He pointed and dodged a few customers as he left for the back room.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Forget about him. So, how are you?"

Tori smiled and laughed a bit. "I guess I'm-"

"STOP! DON'T SAY ANYTHING!"

Tori, Cassie, and Ashley heard Billy's voice before they saw him run through the open door.

"Bi-"

"SHH!" He brought a finger to his lips and customers started looking around at him, avoiding Billy as they tried to browse the store.

"Wh-"

Billy put his hand over Tori's mouth. "Stop, don't say anything. Where are the others?" he asked. Cassie pointed to the back and the four of them headed for the back. Billy still held his hand over Tori's mouth.

"Excuse me, is everything all right here?" Kelly asked, seeing the disturbance and wondering why this stranger had his hand over Tori's mouth.

Billy shook his head at Ashley and Cassie. He smiled at Kelly. "Ma'am, my name is Billy Cranston. I'm here visiting my cousin." He looked down at Tori. "Tori. We're just looking for the rest of her friends. I'm sure you know them, Shane, Hunter, Dustin, and Blake?" He took his hand off of Tori's mouth and she nodded in agreement.

"Okay..." Kelly said, looking suspicious. "The others are in the back, working on Dustin's bike. I can ask them to meet you out here."

"Actually, would it be all right if we met them in the back?"

Kelly narrowed her eyes at Billy. "For what?"

"I just have something extremely important to tell them and...it really can't wait. Privacy is preferred, if possible."

Kelly eyed Billy and looked at Tori, who nodded emphatically. She opened her mouth to say something, but Billy placed his hand over her mouth again and shook his head. "Well, I guess that'll be all right. But I will be right out here if anything happens." She glared at Billy before helping another customer.

Ashley tried to give Kelly a reassuring smile. _"Hope that works,"_ she thought.

The four of them walked to the back and Billy immediately shushed the guys when he saw and heard them talking and laughing. "Don't say anything, you guys!" he said. "We picked up an imbalance and a shift in the equilibrium and found that Lothor harnessed the power of the Abyss of Evil into Tommy, Jason, and Kim. And now they are more powerful than they have ever been. I remember you telling me, TJ, that the first psychos knew your every move and could even pick up your guys' voices. Well, I believe that with this new power surge Kim, Tommy, and Jason will also have that ability."

TJ looked around worriedly. He picked a pen and wrote something on the paper. He held it up for Billy to read. "What about Ninja Ops?"

Billy shrugged. "I don't know if they could pick up your voices there. I know it's protected, but...who knows? I do believe that they cannot read my voice since I have not faced them. Rocky and Adam...I'm not sure."

"Aisha?" TJ wrote.

Billy shrugged again. "She's still unconscious. There's been no change. However, her brain activity is off the charts."

TJ nodded and gestured for the door. He and Carlos helped Dustin and stand and walk, moving towards the front of the store. Blake helped his brother up and the two of them locked eyes, trying to communicate with each other.

_"Do you think they could really pick out our voices?" _Blake tried saying to Hunter with his eyes.

_"Don't say anything, Blake! Carlos told me earlier that they found Cassie in the middle of a crowded shopping center before and she was nearly captured." _Hunter tried saying to Blake.

"Come on!" Billy called, hurrying everyone. "The sooner we get back, the more we can find out about what they know."

"What who know?" asked Kelly, blocking his exit.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but please. I've got to get them out of here."

"Why? Is something wrong? Are you guys in trouble?" she looked worriedly at Tori, Blake, Shane, Dustin, and Hunter. They each shook their heads. "Then why the rush to leave? I feel like I never see you guys anymore. I never thought I'd miss you so much." Tori smiled and stepped forward, giving Kelly a long hug. "Well...thanks, Tori, but-"

"So sorry to break this up."

Kelly and the others turned at the sound of the voice. They saw Jason and Tommy standing in the doorway of the store, blocking it. Their eyes flashed red, although Jason's were brighter than Tommy's. Jason raised his hand and aimed it toward the surfboards. A red beam emitted from his hand and the surfboards fell to the ground.

Customers began running and screaming in all directions, trying to hide behind wherever they could.

"What do you think-" started Kelly, raising her finger at Jason. Tori pulled her back.

"We heard you," Jason said. He looked at Tommy. "Or I should say, _I _heard you. Tommy here hasn't been able to grow into his full powers, have you, Tommy-boy?"

Tommy stared daggers at the back of Jason's head. "I prefer a challenge," he said in a deep, dangerous voice.

Billy looked at the rangers and shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter now," he mouthed.

"Tommy," TJ said. "Please listen to us. This isn't you."

"You know them?" Kelly asked, looking incredulous.

Jason threw another red beam at a fixture full of t-shirts. It broke in a million pieces, revealing a little girl and her mother behind it. Jason cocked his head to one side and watched them, quivering and shaking, frozen in place. He raised his hand and pointed it toward them. Shane ran forward and shoved Jason to the side, causing the red beam to hit the ceiling light. Glass shattered through the store.

"Get them out!" Shane yelled.

Customers started running in every direction in the small store. They were screaming, trying to find a way out. One of the customers used a surfboard to break the front window and everyone started running out through it. Pretty soon, the only people left standing in the store were the rangers, Billy, and Kelly, facing Jason and Tommy.

"It would've been fun to have some more company," Jason said, with a smirk. He took a step into the store. Tommy followed close behind, laughing.

Billy felt chills run down his spine. Hearing Tommy laugh again brought back bad memories of when he was the evil green ranger. He remembered how hard it was to fight him alone and now they were dealing with three equally powerful evil rangers. Billy looked up at Tommy and Jason and wondered where Kimberly was. Normally all the psychos were together. Unless...maybe she's going to go after Ninja Ops and attack Adam and Rocky?

_"No,"_ Billy thought. _"She's been hard after Blake and Tori." _

"Adam," Billy said softly into his communicator. "Jason and Tommy are at the store. Be alert."

"Will do."

"Well," said Jason with a smile. "I guess it's...how do you say it?" he asked, looking at Tommy.

"It's time to meet your doom, rangers," Tommy said with an evil smile.

Their eyes flashed red as they both began to slowly walk towards the rangers.


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Adam looked at Rocky with worried eyes. "Billy said they're out and about. Kim's not with them, so we just have to be alert."

Rocky nodded, not taking his eyes off of Aisha. "Okay."

"I'll just keep an eye out, then, all right?"

"Yeah."

Adam looked at Rocky and then at Aisha. He bit his lip and turned his attention to the monitors. "I don't know where Kim is, though. Do you think she might head here?" When he didn't hear a response, Adam looked at Rocky. "Rock? Kim?" Rocky shrugged and Adam exhaled, turning his attention away from him. He knew it must have been hard for Rocky, being injured and watching Aisha, lifeless before him. Even though Rocky never admitted it to him, he knew that Rocky was in love with Aisha.

With every passing second, Adam found it easier to deal with the aftereffects of being under the spell. He still felt twinges of guilt when he remembered the things he had done under the spell and still missed his friends. He wanted things to be different and while he may have patched things up with Billy, he knew he still had a few ways to go with Rocky. They were best friends and have known each other since they were children and now, it almost felt as if they were complete strangers. Since Rocky had woken up from the spell, the two of them hadn't been able to talk with everyone being there and Aisha lying unconscious. And now, with it being just the two of them, there was an air of awkwardness between them and he wasn't sure if Rocky felt it, too.

* * *

Kelly felt her heart beating in her chest and thought it would get stuck in her throat. She could feel beads of sweat dripping down the sides of her forehead and grabbed Dustin's arm, tightly gripping it. She knew that there were probably fingernail marks on his skin, but at the moment, she didn't feel anything. Just fear.

She didn't know who the heck the two guys were that had waltzed into her store and effectively destroyed it. She saw the red glow of their eyes and grew even more afraid, taking a step back. She wasn't even worried about how the two men and her friends and their family members knew each other. The only thing on her mind was trying to get out alive.

"Kelly. Kelly, come on. Let's go back here."

Kelly could feel someone leading her away. When she realized where she was, she found herself sitting on the floor of the back room of the store. She could hear a bunch of crashes and saw a lot of red light beams everywhere, but, for some reason, nothing registered in her mind.

"Just stay down, Kelly. We'll be fine back here."

She looked around and saw Hunter and Dustin sitting on either side of her. "What happened? What's going on out there? Who are those two guys? Where's everyone else? Did they get to run out?"

"They'll be okay," answered Hunter.

"No, where are they?" She heard yelling and screaming in the front of the store. "They're still there, aren't they? Are they trying to face them? Did you see the red glow in their eyes? What are they?" Kelly scrambled to get up.

"No, Kel, don't move," Hunter said, trying to follow Kelly. He had a hard time standing up with his hurt leg.

"Hunter, they're in trouble." She stood up and looked over the counter, just in time to see Tori, Shane, Blake, Ashley, TJ, Carlos, and Cassie morph. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. She turned around suddenly and slid down, leaning against the bottom part of the counter. She glanced at Hunter and Dustin. "They're Power Rangers?"

"What!" exclaimed Hunter.

"Of course they're not Power Rangers," said Dustin. "What...what gives you that idea?"

"I...I...I just saw..." Kelly looked at Hunter and Dustin with recognition in her eyes. "And you two are Power Rangers, too!"

"What? No...of course not."

"Yes. It makes so much sense now. That's why you guys always disappear at once. That's why you," she pointed to Dustin, "are MIA sometimes during work. And that's why the yellow ranger was here that night. And you and your brother," she nudged Hunter, "

"Okay, Kelly," started Hunter, "you got us. But you can't say anything. At all. Your safety is at stake here. The safety of all of Blue Bay Harbor."

Kelly looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Kelly, but it's really important. Give us your word that you will not tell anybody. And that you won't try to get in the middle of this. Those guys, those psycho rangers, they're dangerous, Kel. They won't hesitate to kill you to hurt us. They broke my leg, they hurt Dustin."

"What happened to you?" she asked, looking at Dustin.

Dustin shrugged. "I don't...I don't really remember."

"It doesn't matter," said Hunter. "Give me your word, Kelly. You won't say anything about us and you won't get in the middle of it."

A loud crash echoed around them and the remnants of one of the fixtures came flying over the counter. Hangers splintered against the wall and Kelly covered her face.

"Kelly, your word," Hunter said urgently.

She could feel him gripping her arm tightly. "Yes, Hunter. I won't say anything."

"Do you swear?"

"I swear I won't say a word. I promise."

* * *

The rangers could tell they were fighting a losing battle. Tommy and Jason had not even morphed and they were already beating them. Tori, Blake, Cassie, and Carlos were huddled together on one side of the store and they were trying to fend off Tommy's attacks. If they were just fighting Tommy, it probably would've been okay, but every time the rangers seemed to be gaining the upperhand, Jason would hit them with one of those red laser beams from his hand.

On the other side of the store, Ashley, Shane, TJ, and Billy were crouched behind a fixture that Jason had managed to not destroy yet. They couldn't even get close enough to Jason to attack him. The only thing that kept them standing was Shane's deflecting of the beams by his ninja sword.

"Thanks for getting the job done. Makes destroying the rangers a hell of a lot easier."

Tommy and Jason turned around. The others slowly left their hiding places and Kelly, Hunter, and Dustin peeked over the counter in the back room. "Where've you been?" Jason demanded.

"Don't ask questions." Kim walked into the shop slowly, staring Jason down. Both pairs of red eyes danced dangerously before everyone. "I've been looking for you."

"Well, you found me."

Kim moved between Tommy and Jason and glared at both of them. She laughed out loud, sending chills down everyone's spine. She stretched her neck, cracking it, and threw her arms out to her side, sending Tommy and Jason flying into the walls of the store.

Kelly nearly let out a scream and Hunter threw his hand over her mouth, shushing her. The three of them resumed their places beneath the counter and crouched closer together.

"Kimberly!" Billy called.

She cocked her head to the sound and glared at him. She furrowed her eyebrows and circled her arms around her, creating a sort of red glow throughout the store. She held her hands out in front of her and red beams emitted from it, nonstop. The rangers and Tommy ducked down, trying to avoid the beam, while Jason stood in front of everyone, holding his own hands out. Another red beam emitted from his hands, trying to force Kim's beams back.

"KIMBERLY!" Jason bellowed.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, JASON! I MIGHT JUST SPARE YOU!"

"They're mine, Kim!"

"NO!"

Jason took a deep breath and his eyes glowed more brilliantly. He pulled his arms back and threw it forward, pushing all of his energy out through his hands. The force blasted Kim backwards, throwing her to the ground. Jason looked at Tommy.

"It's psycho time!" he yelled. He and Tommy quickly morphed into the silver and red psycho rangers. Shane, Tori, Blake, TJ, Cassie, Ashley, Carlos and Billy stood behind them.

Kim snarled as she struggled to stand up and she threw her hand out in Billy's direction.

Carlos pulled him out of the way just in time and shoved him toward the back room. "You'll be safer there, man!"

Billy nodded, still trying to take in everything that happened. He saw Hunter, Kelly, and Dustin behind the counter and sat down next to them. "You've got to get out of here," he said to Kelly, who stared back at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"She knows," Hunter said quietly.

"What?"

"She knows. She figured it out. That we're all rangers. We could trust her."

"You too?" Kelly asked, looking at Billy.

Billy shook his head. "Not me. Not anymore." He peeked over the top of the counter. "We've really got to get out of here. Are you okay to stand, Hunter? Is there a way we can sneak out through another entrance or something?"

"There's a back door," answered Dustin, grabbing a hold of the corner of the counter to lift himself up. "It's right through there."

Billy helped Dustin and Hunter stand. He draped Dustin's arm around his shoulders and Hunter helped Kelly stand. The four of them slowly moved their way to the back entrance.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, JASON!"

Kim dropped her hands and started to fight him. She threw him back and Tommy ran forward, throwing a punch at Kim. Kim quickly avoided it and flipped him over her shoulder. She kicked him aside and turned her attention to the actual rangers.

"Nice to see you all again," she said, throwing a kick at TJ, the closest ranger to her. He grabbed her leg and she flipped over, throwing her leg towards his head. She caught him with her kick and she swung him around with her legs, tossing him to the wall.

Ashley and Cassie nodded to each other and the two of them flipped forward and tried to attack Kim from both sides. Kim easily dodged their hits and Tori used her water power to help them. Kim snarled at the three of them and easily disposed of them, throwing all of them to the side.

Kim looked at each of the rest of the rangers. "Well? Who's next?"

Tommy threw his arms around her and she struggled for a moment against his psycho ranger suit. She kicked him in the groin and threw him upwards.

"Again. I ask: who's next?"

Jason growled and he, Shane, Blake, and Carlos charged Kim from all sides. She was fast, quicker than all of them anticipated, and she dodged all of their attacks. Shane kicked her, knocking her back a few paces, and Jason took advantage of Kim's momentary distraction, punching her stomach and tossing her in the air.

It didn't seem to faze her though, for she landed on her feet and glared back at them, snarling and growling. Her eyes still glowed red and she carefully moved towards them, as if she were a lion stalking her prey.

TJ tossed a piece of debris at her, missing her by a few inches. She snapped her attention to him and growled. "You want to play, blue ranger?"

Jason ran forward and jumped, throwing a swing kick at her.

She fell forward and rolled over, facing the ceiling. She suddenly rolled over again, seeing Tommy jump down at her from out of nowhere. Kim raised her hands and aimed them both at Tommy.

The force of the red beams stopped him in mid-air and Kim slowly stood up, focusing all of her attention on him. She held him steady, encased in a circle of red smoke, and he was forced to de-morph in mid-air. He looked as if he was paralyzed, unmoving and no emotion in his face. The only thing he was able to move were his eyes and he kept them steady on Kim. Tears were welling up in his eyes, but he continued to look into Kim's own eyes.

She refused to look at him, instead focusing all of her energy on the beam aimed at Tommy.

"She's gonna kill him," Tori said, worriedly. "We have to help." She, TJ, Cassie, and Ashley slowly stood, ignoring the pains all over their bodies.

"What do we do?" asked Cassie.

"We have to distract her," replied TJ.

"But how do we do that without killing ourselves?" said Ashley. TJ shrugged. He grabbed his blaster from its holster. Ashley laid her hand on his arm. "And how do we do that without killing her? Don't use it, TJ."

"I'm not going to hurt her. I'm just going to aim for the blast. Maybe it'll stop it. Come on, we should all do it." He nudged Ashley and Cassie. The two of them, along with Tori, also pulled out their blasters.

Tori held hers up shakily.

"You okay there, Tor?" TJ asked. "You don't have to do this if you're uncomfortable or if you don't want to."

"It's okay," Tori said. She steadied her hand and aimed it towards the beam.

"On the count of three. One...Two...Three." TJ, Ashley, Cassie, and Tori all fired their blasters at the beam.

It seemed to illuminate the blast and for a second, Kim looked surprised. She seemed satisfied with the stronger beam of light and continued to focus her energy on it. The blast grew stronger and began to fuse the colors of blue, pink, yellow, and a lighter shade of blue. Kim looked confused, but continued to shoot her blast.

Shane nudged Carlos and Blake and gestured to TJ, Ashley, Cassie, and Tori. The three of them followed their leads and pulled out their blasters and shot it at the blast. A lighter shade of red, black, and navy fused into the already colorful beam.

Jason looked around at them with a curious, yet angry look on his face. He shook his head, realizing what was going on and realizing that he had actually worked alongside the enemy. He let out a low, guttural growl and promptly disappeared.

Kim looked angry and saw what the rangers were doing. She dropped her hands and aimed them towards the ceiling. In a quick second, the ceiling collapsed around them and Kim disappeared in a puff of red smoke.

* * *

Thank you for reading! What do you think about Kelly finding out about the rangers? And Kim, Tommy, and Jason? Please let me know what you think!


	19. Chapter 19

Here's the new chapter!

Thank you all so much for reading! Please review!

* * *

Rocky sat next to Aisha, brushing her hair from her face absentmindedly. His mind was blank and he hadn't yet registered everything that's happened. He looked around and saw Adam standing over the monitor with a worried look. Rocky watched him for a bit.

Of everybody, Adam was probably the one that he had missed the most. And this made him feel a little awkward and uncomfortable around him. They haven't directly said a word to each other since Rocky came out from under the spell. And this silence between them wasn't helping the level of comfort between them grow. Rocky didn't know what to say to him. They had barely spoken since Rocky left the team back when the rangers upgraded to the Turbo powers and he told Justin to go in his place.

Why did he do that?

At the moment, Rocky couldn't even remember why. He vaguely remembered a back injury and his desire to focus on his martial arts schools. But now he regretted it. He missed his friends terribly and knew that his decision to leave the team was what had ultimately cut him off from his friends. He should've known by then. It had happened with Kim, when she left for Florida; Aisha, when she decided to stay in Africa; Billy, when he chose to go to Aquitar; and Jason, when he was forced to give up the gold ranger powers.

No matter how strong their friendship was, once they left the team, it had never been the same. The bond changed, it drove them further apart from each other. No longer were they in battle with each other and no longer did they have to talk to each other.

It was almost as if they were starting the friendship over from scratch.

He thought about when he left the team. It had been like that, he knew. Once he chose to give up the powers, to a kid, no less, Rocky felt different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it wasn't a good way, either. At the time, he wasn't sure if he liked that. Now, he knew for sure that he did not like it. His friends did not play a part in his decision to leave the team, but in reality, they should have been the whole reason.

Did they want a kid as their teammate? Did he put too much of a burden on Justin at so young an age?

Rocky thought he was young when he became a ranger, but Justin...no matter how old his brain was, Justin was still a child. And Rocky should not have ever put him in that position. And for that, he felt guilty. And most of all, he regretted it.

He never thought about that when he was younger. What his friends thought about him leaving the team. What they thought about Justin becoming the new blue ranger. How Justin felt about being a ranger. He realized now that he was being selfish. All he thought about was himself. He was worried about his back and he wanted to run his schools full-time since he graduated from high school. He didn't think about any of his friends. He saw that now. And he was so deeply sorry.

Adam glanced up from the computer and saw Rocky staring at him with a strange expression on his face. He nodded to Rocky a bit and gave him a small smile before turning his attention back to the computer. He still felt a little strange around Rocky and wasn't sure what to say, if anything, in the awkward silence. Besides, talking wasn't really his thing. Sure, he had broken out of his shell as he grew more and more comfortable with the Power, but for the most part, Adam was content in silence.

But not this kind.

"Hey...Adam..."

Adam looked up, a little surprised. "Yeah, Rocky?" he asked, taking a step away from the computer. "What's up?"

"Just..." Rocky shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Adam."

Adam looked confused. "For what?"

Rocky shrugged again. "For everything. Leaving the team...especially the way I left. And the past...the past few years. I'm sorry."

Adam exhaled. He thought back to when Rocky left the team. He remembered feeling a bit...betrayed by Rocky. First, Aisha left the team, but at least Rocky was still there during that time. And then...Rocky left. Abruptly and didn't even give any of them any notice. And Adam was the only one left from their little team. The three of them had grown up together, they had moved to Angel Grove together, they became Power Rangers together...and then...they were all apart.

He shook it off and smiled in spite of himself. He looked around and fought the urge to laugh at the irony of the three of them being back together again, although not under the best of circumstances. Aisha was unconscious and quite possibly, still evil. Rocky was injured and seemed to have some sort of epiphany.

Adam walked over to Rocky and embraced him in a hug. "Don't even worry about it, Rocky. It's not all on you. It's my fault, too. And I'm sorry. I should've said something about...everything."

Rocky hugged him in return. "Missed you, buddy."

"I missed you too." The two of them let go of each other and turned their attention to Aisha. "I hope she's okay," Adam said.

Before Rocky could even open his mouth to reply, Aisha sat up, screaming at the top of her lungs. Adam and Rocky grabbed her arms, one on each side, and tried to restrain her. She whipped her head from side to side and Adam and Rocky caught sight of the deep red of her eyes.

Aisha leaned into Adam and snarled loudly. She whipped her hair around, hitting Rocky and he flinched, taking a step backwards, but not letting go of her arm.

"Aisha!" he cried out.

She snarled louder and more viciously and struggled against their tight grips. "Let go of me!" she yelled in a deep voice. She jumped up, off of the bed and dragged Adam and Rocky with her.

"Aisha!" Adam yelled. "Stop!"

In a flash, Adam and Rocky were lying on their backs in pain. Rocky had a brief flashback to when he was lying on his back in pain when he, Tommy, and Adam were preparing for the karate benefit. He had given up then, but now, he vowed that he wouldn't give up. He won't fail his friends again.

He just somehow had to show Aisha the way back.

Adam prepared himself to jump up, but Aisha promptly knocked him down.

"What? Thought I would go the same way as you two losers?" She laughed wickedly, throwing her hands in the air. Aisha kicked at Adam's side and threw a punch at Rocky. "Well, you thought wrong." She flipped over them and easily picked them up, throwing them across the room.

"Get up and fight back!" she yelled.

Adam and Rocky looked at each other. The two of them shook their heads at the same time and Rocky grabbed his shoulder. It was throbbing and all of this tossing around wasn't helping it one bit. He wondered where the other rangers were.

"Aisha!" Adam yelled again.

Aisha screamed and threw a chair at him.

"This is enough."

An unrecognizable voice interrupted Aisha. It was extremely calm, but held the power to command a hundred armies.

Adam and Rocky looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, Asian man that they didn't recognize. On either side of him were Andros and Zhane, both of whom had taken up a battle stance against Aisha. The Asian man raised his hands and Andros and Zhane promptly dropped their stances.

"Now," the man said in his calm voice. "Can you tell me why you are destroying my school?"

"Because I am going to destroy you!" Aisha yelled. She charged at the man and at once the man seemingly disappeared, but in what felt like a second, she was tied to the same chair that she had thrown at Adam. The same chair that Adam had once been tied to.

The man smiled, pleased with himself. He dusted himself off and headed for Adam and Rocky, helping both of them to their feet. "Now, who are you two?"

Adam and Rocky glanced at each other.

"Uh, I'm Adam."

"Rocky." He waved with his good hand.

"This is the ninja rangers' Sensei," said Andros. He looked around the room. "Now, what's been going on here?" He and Zhane eyed Adam and Rocky suspiciously. "When we left, you were tied to a chair, Adam. And you were both still evil."

"Well, we're not anymore," said Rocky.

"Where is everybody?" demanded Zhane.

Rocky and Adam exchanged glances and looked at Aisha, who was bound and tied to the same chair that Adam was tied to before. She was gagged and struggled against the ropes.

"Well, long story short," started Adam. He gestured to Rocky. "Rocky got hit by one of Kim's arrows and came out of the spell, obviously. Billy found a way for me to morph into the black Ninjetti ranger and during one of the fights, Aisha fell off the side of a cliff. She just woke up, but unfortunately, did not get knocked out of the spell."

"And where are the other rangers?" asked Sensei. His voice calmed Adam's racing heart rate.

"Last we heard, they were at...Storm Chargers, I think it's called."

Sensei nodded. "Yes, they frequent this place often."

"But then Tommy and Jason came and...I don't know after that. We thought Kim would probably head here since she wasn't with them, but we haven't seen her. Instead, Aisha woke up."

"And the rangers?"

Adam shrugged and shook his head, looking sad and worried. "We don't know."


	20. Chapter 20

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

TJ fluttered his eyes open, feeling a sharp pain in his left arm. He was buried under the debris of the building and hoped that everyone was all right. He used his good arm to pull himself up from the wood and plaster that was around him.

The force of Kim's power and the collapse of the roof forced TJ to demorph and he figured that everyone else had also been forced to demorph.

TJ coughed, feeling short of breath. "Guys? How is everyone?" He listened for a few moments and didn't hear anything. "Are you guys okay?" He heard coughing near him and he felt his heart do a quick backflip in his chest.

A cough meant that someone was alive.

"I'm here!" TJ yelled, holding his hurt arm close to his body. He saw a light blue t-shirt and knew that Tori was buried near him. He heard her cough again. "Tor! Hang on!"

TJ grunted as he raised a heavy bar of wood. He threw it to the side and hoped that he didn't just condemn another one of his friends.

"I've got you, Tori," he said, squatting down.

Tori was lying face down, coughing into the floor. She tried to roll over, but only managed to halfway.

"Are you hurt, Tori? Can you stand?"

She coughed again, trying to sit up, and nodded. "I think...I'm not hurt. I could stand."

TJ nodded and extended his hand. "Let's find the others. Be careful, Tor."

"Are you all right?" she asked, taking his good hand. She gestured to his hurt arm.

"I'll be fine. Let's just find the others."

* * *

Kim stood across the street from Storm Chargers, smiling to herself. She was quite pleased with her work, thus far. She gazed upon the completely destroyed store.

The roof had caved in and the windows were blown apart. Glass had flown everywhere and it looked as if a bomb exploded in the store.

She knew the rangers were still alive. She could feel it. . She could end their lives now if she chose to. Kim played with a lighter that she picked up from somewhere. She used her red beam to enhance the flame and threw it around the street.

Now there were a number of small flame balls circling the store and up and down the street.

Kim smiled again and wiated a bit. Once this part of her plan was finished, she could move on to the next phase:

Kill Lothor.

* * *

"TJ! I think Ashley's over here!" Tori yelled. She dropped down and tried to peek underneath a large piece of debris. She locked eyes with Ashley and tried to reach underneath to grab her hand.

"I'm here, Ash," Tori said, grasping her hand. "We'll get you out, I promise."

"Ca-" Ashely coughed harshly, interrupting herself. "Cassie," she said in a ragged voice. "I saw-I saw her get hit."

"We'll get her out, too."

"I'll be there, Tori!" yelled TJ. He helped Shane and Blake stand up, both of them brushing dust off of themselves. "Are you guys all right?"

Shane and Blake nodded.

"I'm good," said Blake. He patted himself down, checking for injuries.

"Me too," added Shane.

"Okay. We have to find the others." TJ looked over at Tori and saw her on the ground. "Tori said Ashley's over there. We still need to find Carlos, Cassie, and Tommy. And Billy, Hunter, Dustin, and Kelly if they didn't make it out."

Shane nodded. "Blake, go ahead to the back. Make sure they got out in time." Blake nodded and ran to the back. "TJ, I'll look over here for Carlos."

TJ nodded as he headed for Tori. He crouched down, bringing himself eye level with Ashley. "Hey Ash!" he said in a kind and calming voice. "We'll have you out of there in no time, all right?"

Ashley coughed again and said something undistinguishable.

"She's calling for Cassie," Tori answered TJ's silent question. "Hey, this thing is too heavy for me to lift or get off of her. If I slide it, I think I might trap her more."

"Okay, okay." TJ looked around quickly and felt relief at seeing Shane and Carlos nearby. "Let's try and lift it, okay."

"You sure you can?" Tori gestured to TJ's arm.

TJ nodded. "I'm fine." He stood and grabbed hold of one side, squatting to get a better grip. "On the count of three."

Tori nodded and grasped the other end. She squatted and was ready to throw her weight into the heavy piece of wood.

"1...2...3"

At three, Tori and TJ grunted as they raised the piece of debris high over their heads and tossed it across the room. Ashley kicked away a smaller piece of debris and sat up.

"Are you okay?" Tori asked, leaning down to brush some plaster dust from her face.

Ashley nodded and coughed. "I'm fine. Where's Cassie? I saw her get hit by one of the beams of wood." The three of them looked around.

"Oh...my...g-"

"CASSIE!" Ashley yelled. She jumped on her knees and tried to dig her way though the debris.

A long stream of blood trickled out from beneath the debris. Small pieces of pink fabric and gray fabric were strewn around them. Tori dropped to her knees and helped Ashley dig, trying to hold her tears in. TJ stood behind them, not knowing exactly what to do, looking defeated.

* * *

Kim laughed from her spot across the street. She heard every word and could feel every bit of pain they felt.

And she enjoyed it. Every second of it. She longed for more of it. She craved it, even.

Kim wanted them to suffer. All of them. Suffer before they became her slaves. Before she stole their powers to make her the most powerful being in the world.

Again, Kim played with the lighter in her hands. She liked the fire. She didn't feel anything when she ran her hands through it.

No, wait. She did feel one thing.

She felt like the most powerful person on the planet.

* * *

"I think...I think someone's here," Shane said, gesturing down. "It looks like a red shirt." He knelt down and threw aside some wood. "I think it's, um..."

"Tommy," Carlos finished. He moved over next to Shane and the two of them threw aside more of the debris.

Tommy's eyes fluttered open and he looked around in a panic.

_"Oh no," _he thought. "_What happened? What have I done? Where's Kim? And Jason?"_

"Tommy?" asked Carlos. "Tommy, are you all right?" He peered at Tommy and moved aside more debris.

Tommy shook his head a bit and tried to focus on the long-haired man in front of him. "What...what happened?"

"You don't remember what happened?"

Tommy shook his head again. "No...I mean...yes...I do...but...did that really happen?" He coughed and shook a bit, sending up a cloud of white dust.

"Are you hurt, Tommy?"

Tommy closed his eyes briefly and thought about Carlos' question. He wasn't physically hurt, but he was mentally and emotionally drained. "No, I'm fine," he answered with indifference.

Carlos closely stared at him for a few seconds that seemed to take hours. "Okay." He looked around at a teenager that Tommy didn't recognize. "Come on, help me get him up."

* * *

Kim lit the lighter and watched the flames dance around her. She took the flame from the lighter and held it in her hand, seemingly holding the small flame in midair, as if her hand was a candle.

She threw the lighter off to the side and threw the small flame between her hands. She could feel the power coursing through her body and couldn't wait to unleash it on the world. She felt as though nothing could stop her.

Kim held the small flame in her hand and watched as it grew. She raised it and held it up toward the store, preparing to throw it.

* * *

"Cassie!" Ashley cried out.

She and Tori managed to unearth Cassie's body from underneath the debris and found her with her leg stuck underneath a heavy and long piece of wood. She was half-conscious and kept reaching for her abdomen, where blood had seeped through her ripped shirt.

"TJ! Help us!"

Ashley and Tori threw all their weight in trying to lift the wood, but it wouldn't budge.

"TJ!"

Tommy heard the yelling from the other end of the room and he suddenly jumped up. He, Carlos, and Shane ran over to Ashley and Tori and helped them lif the heavy wood. Carlos threw TJ a confused look before looking down at Cassie and pulling off his jacket to hold to Cassie's side.

* * *

Blake looked around the back of Storm Chargers, noticing how the damage wasn't quite so bad back there. There were still some problems, but for the most part, it seemed as if Kim had only attacked the front part of the store. He looked around for any sign of Kelly, Hunter, Dustin, or Billy and was relieved to see the back door casually thrown open.

_"Good_," he thought. "_They got away." _

He wiped his forehead of sweat and dust and exhaled loudly. He wondered if he should grab anything for Kelly or any of the others. Blake glanced to the front of the store and heard them yelling. He figured they must need help out there and ran back out to the front.

"They got away!" Blake yelled. "I think they were headed back to Ninja Ops!

He ran out and saw everyone gathered around one area and noticed the blood on the floor. "Oh no," he said. "What happened?" Nobody answered him, so he ran towards them and just happened to glance up, out of the window.

Blake felt his heart stop and get caught in his throat. He felt his pulse start racing at the sight of what was outside the window.

"You guys!" he yelled. "We've got to get out of here, now!"

Kim eyed him and grinned, holding up the flame that had now grown to large fireball in her hand. She playfully swung it around and Blake could tell that she was laughing out loud.

"Guys!" Blake yelled again. "OUT! PSYCHO PINK'S GONNA BLOW THIS PLACE!"

Tommy, Ashley, TJ, Carlos, Tori, and Shane followed Blake's gaze toward the window. All of them panicked when they saw Kim. Tommy leaned down and easily picked up Cassie. Ashley followed him, holding Carlos' jacket to Cassie's side.

"The back!" Blake yelled. "Go out in the back!"

Shane led Carlos, Tommy, Ashley, and TJ towards the back. Blake prepared to run after them, but noticed Tori still staring out the window.

"Tori! Come on, let's go!" He ran back and grabbed her hand, dragging her after the others.

"Too late, rangers!" Kim yelled out loud as she threw the fireball into the window.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


	21. Chapter 21

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

"We're almost there," Hunter said. "Just a little bit further." He, Billy, Dustin, and Kelly approached the edge of the lake and waterfall.

"There's nowhere else to go," replied Kelly with disdain. She narrowed her eyes at the water. "I thought you guys said we were going to your headquarters."

"We are," said Dustin. "Through there." He gestured ahead and walked onto the water.

Kelly looked at him in surprise. "How are you doing that, Dustin?" she called out to him.

"Come on, Kel," said Hunter, extending his hand.

"You open yourself to a lot of new things when you're with Power Rangers," Billy said with a smile.

Kelly looked at Hunter's hand warily and reluctantly took it. She held on tightly before she realized that she wasn't falling through the water. She carefully followed Hunter and stopped in front of the waterfall.

"What's wrong, Kelly?" Hunter asked. He watched as Dustin and Billy went through the waterfall.

"I don't have clothes. Or towels."

Hunter looked at her in confusion and then realized that she was talking about the waterfall. He started laughing and Kelly narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's not funny," she said.

"Just come on, Kelly. You won't get wet." He pulled her through the waterfall and to her surprise, not one drop of water fell on her. "There, see. Not wet." Hunter laughed again.

Kelly rolled her eyes and shook her head as she followed him down the hall. "So...what is this place, anyway?"

"It's our-" Hunter broke off when he saw a familiar face in the room. "Sensei?" he said, excitedly. He limped as fast as he could toward Sensei and wrapped him in a hug.

"It's nice to see you too, Hunter," Sensei replied, patting his back. "But you look as if you need a seat."

"I'm fine, Sensei," Hunter said, ignoring the sharp pain in his leg.

Sensei nodded, but directed Hunter into a seat. "Now," he said, turning his attention to Kelly. "Who is your friend?"

"Kelly," Dustin answered. "You remember her, right? She's the one who owns the Storm Chargers. She sponsors us. Me, Hunter, and Blake."

Kelly nodded, a little afraid of this seemingly powerful man. She looked around and saw the other people in the room, a bit afraid of all of them. She noticed the same man who had caused a commotion in her store earlier in the room, along with a few others. A pretty African-American lady was tied to a chair. A long-haired man and a man with strikingly blonde hair were staring at her like she had two heads. And a Hispanic man who stared at her with indifference.

"So you have found out our little secret, have you?" Sensei asked.

Kelly opened her mouth to respond. "Uh...uh-uh...I-I..I promise I won't say anything." Sensei stared at her for the longest time. She was sure that he was reading her mind and wanted to break the eye contact, but couldn't.

Sensei nodded. "I believe you. You may take a seat."

Kelly nodded and sat down between Hunter and Dustin. The two of them whispered the names of the others in the room, telling them a brief history of the Power Rangers and what was going on with the Psycho rangers.

"So, what's going on out there?" asked Adam. "Where are the others?" Billy filled him, Rocky, Sensei, Andros, and Zhane in on what happened at the store.

"Did they get away?" asked Rocky.

Billy shrugged. "We don't know."

"They'll be fine," said Andros. "I think we've got to focus on Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly. As soon as we've got them back from under the spell, we can then turn our attention on Lothor."

"Where is Cam?" Sensei asked, looking around. "Is he with the others?"

Billy exchanged a dark glance with Andros and Zhane. Adam and Rocky looked down, guiltily.

"They took him," Dustin answered. "Well, them when they were evil, still. And not just them, the other ones, too."

Billy held up a hand and shook his head. "Cam's been captured by Lothor."

Sensei furrowed his forehead and shook his head. "What's happened here?"

* * *

"Everyone all right?" TJ asked. He looked back at the exploding remains of the store, covering his eyes from the heat and the bright glare of the fire. He coughed, accidently inhaling some of the smoke.

"Yeah," Shane answered, also coughing. He nodded to Blake and Tori. "We're good. How's Cassie?"

Ashley shrugged, holding her hand to her nose. She coughed a few times.

"Let's go back to Ninja Ops," said Carlos, covering his nose.

"You all right, Tommy?" TJ asked.

Tommy nodded. "I'm fine. You guys lead the way."

"You sure you're all right?"

Tommy nodded again. "I'm fine, TJ." He glanced backwards at the fire and slowly followed them. He was careful to not drop Cassie and made sure that her head didn't hit anything as they were getting away. Tommy followed TJ and the others and quickly glanced back again when he noticed Kim standing there. He stopped walking and turned around to face her. He took a step toward her, but stopped when TJ put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not now, Tommy." TJ gestured to Cassie. "We'll get her back. We will."

Tommy bit his lip and followed TJ. "All right."

* * *

"ARGH!"

Kelly jumped when Aisha suddenly yelled out loud.

"Aisha!" Adam yelled.

"Has there been any inclination of Aisha returning to the side of good?" asked Sensei.

Adam and Rocky looked at each other and shook their heads. "Nothing since she's been awake."

Sensei nodded and took a seat across from Aisha. He rubbed his head, thinking about his son. "The only way we can get Cam back is if we have the help of everyone. I promised his mother that I would never put him in danger."

Andros, Zhane, Billy, Adam, and Rocky gave each other an uncomfortable look. "I'm sorry," Adam said.

"Me too," added Rocky. "If-"

"It is not your fault. Lothor used to be my brother. The fault is mine." He exhaled and looked up at Aisha.

"Is there anything you can do?" Adam gestured toward Aisha.

"There are things we can try. Ultimately, it lies within Aisha to determine whether or not she wishes to return to the side of good." He took her head into his hands and steadied it as Aisha tried to thrash around. "Aisha. Look into my eyes. This is not you."

She growled again and tried to get her head out of Sensei's grip.

"No," Sensei said firmly. He tightened his grip on Aisha's head. "This is not you. You are a Power Ranger. A yellow ranger. The keeper of the spirit of the Bear."

Aisha growled again and yelled.

"The keeper of the spirit of the Bear. The Bear is who you are, not this. Not a mindless robot of Lothor's."

"I am no robot," snarled Aisha.

"That's right. No, you are not." He looked deeply into Aisha's red eyes and saw that the evil looked as if it was subsiding a bit. "You are not a robot," he repeated. "These are your friends. Your friends who care deeply about you. Who want nothing more than to see you again. The real you. Not this. Not this person."

Aisha's head started to throb. A number of images ran through her mind and thought about what Sensei was saying. She didn't recognize him, but could feel as if he was someone that she could trust. In some weird way, something woke up in the back of her mind. She was reminded of Zordon, someone that she had not thought about in a long time. She shook her head, trying to clear things out. In a flash, she remembered that she served Lothor and growled loudly at Sensei.

"I know you are in there, Aisha. I can see it. I know you are."

"Leave me alone!" she yelled.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think!


	22. Chapter 22

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

At that moment, Shane, Blake, Tori, Ashley, Carlos, TJ, and Tommy ran in. Immediately, Andros and Zhane saw Tommy with Cassie in his arms and were on their guard.

"What did you do to her?" Zhane demanded.

"It's okay," TJ said. "He's fine."

"Put her down here, Tommy," said Billy, clearing off space on one of the beds. He spread out a new sheet and Tommy gently laid her down. "Now, what happened after we left? Tommy? Are you all right?"

Tommy looked up at Billy, with his mind obviously elsewhere. "What? Huh?"

"Are you all right?" Billy asked again. He looked at Tommy in concern and gestured for him to sit down.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm all right, I guess."

Billy stared at him a bit, dissatisfied with his answer. He chose to ignore it for the time being and turned his attention to the others. "So, what happened? TJ, your arm? You okay? Can I take a look at it?"

TJ nodded and carefully held out his arm. "It's fine, it's probably just a little bruise or something. I'll be good as new. You should take a look at Cassie, though."

Billy nodded and turned around to where Ashley, Andros, Zhane, and Carlos were hovering over Cassie. He saw that Cassie was fading in and out of consciousness and that Ashley was steadily holding something to Cassie's abdomen. "Hey, guys, let's give her a bit of room, all right? Some air."

Andros nodded and pulled Zhane back. "She'll be okay," he reassured Zhane. "She'll be fine." He looked at TJ, who was icing his arm. "So...what happened?"

TJ and Carlos proceeded to tell him what happened while Tori, Shane, and Blake greeted their mentor.

"Are you all right, Sensei?" asked Tori.

"I'm fine," he answered. "It looks like you have all been left in good hands."

Tori exhaled loudly. "Just barely. And you're giving us a little too much credit. We didn't do anything. We had help the entire way."

"Ah, but the important thing is that you accepted the help. You asked for it and accepted it. Most people do not realize when they are in need of help, nor do they bother asking for it."

"But Hunter and Dustin still got hurt. And Lothor has Cam."

"That is true. But I have a firm belief that we will save Cam. Or he will escape."

"We should try and get him out now," said Hunter. "They're down to only two psycho rangers. I could walk a little bit. Maybe when I morph, it'll help with my leg and stuff."

"No, it's too risky," replied Blake. "You're still pretty hurt and so is Dustin."

"But they're down to only two psychos, but those two, especially psycho pink..."

"Kim's power is based not only on the evil that Lothor infused in her, but also with her own bitterness and anger," replied Billy.

"So...what does that mean?" asked Hunter. "She's more powerful than Lothor?"

"Well, yeah," answered Billy. "She is. I assume something happened to her. Her and Jason. It almost seems as if...as if Tommy wasn't..."

"There was an accident," replied Tommy, quietly. Everyone went silent at the sound of his voice. "Every time we came back...he was so angry, always so angry."

"You remember?"

Tommy looked at Billy and nodded. "Yeah. Every moment." He glanced at Adam and Rocky. "You guys?"

Adam shrugged. "Bits and pieces."

"Same," replied Rocky.

"Consider yourselves lucky." Tommy exhaled and rubbed his temples. He shut his eyes and clenched them tight before opening them.

"What happened?" Billy gently asked.

Tommy sighed, obviously disturbed. "I guess...I don't really know. It was so fast. And...Kim..."

"What happened to Kim?"

"She was so hurt. So hurt. And...I don't know. Lothor was angry, too. So angry. At us. At her."

"For?"

Tommy gestured to Adam, Rocky, and Aisha. "For messing that up. After we fought, we came back with one less...one less person. And he was...he was just so angry at us. So he had those two girls-"

"Marah and Kapri," supplied Tori.

"Yeah, them," replied Tommy, not batting an eye at Tori. "He had them...make some sort of machine or something. And he put all the powers of the ninja schools that he had taken over into it. And the rest of the power from the Abyss of Evil. He meant to divide it up between the three of us. Me, Jason, and Kim," he added unnecessarily. "And he got to Jason. Because he was the original red ranger. The first leader. And then Kim." He stopped talking when his breath caught up in his throat.

"And then what happened?" prodded Billy. The sooner he could get the story out of Tommy, the sooner they could work at trying to save Jason, Kim, and Cam.

"And then...it was like a flash. The green samurai ranger, even without his powers, was able to escape and...well, he messed it all up. Lothor dropped the machine while he was shooting Kim with its evil and it got stuck on her. So all of the power from the Abyss of Evil and the ninja schools went into Kim. Jason got a little bit of it, but...Lothor looked terrified when Kim was...when she faced us. And...well, you guys saw how powerful she is."

"And Cam? Was he all right?"

Tommy quickly glanced at Adam and Rocky before dropping his gaze. He, along with the other two, participated in torturing the green samurai ranger. At the time, he couldn't figure out why, but now he realized that he sort of admired how strong Cam was under torture. He never gave in to them. "He was still alive and breathing."

Billy nodded and looked at Sensei. "He's okay. But we've got to get him out of there."

"I'll go," said Tommy. "Maybe they don't know that I've come back yet."

"Tommy, we've really got to plan this out. We can't go in there blindly."

"We've got to do something."

"Yes, I agree. And I have an idea. Can I see your psycho morpher?"

Tommy pulled it out and handed it over to Billy. "What for?"

"Well, Adam was able to morph into the black Ninjetti ranger."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"We haven't tried it with Rocky yet, obviously," Billy said, nodding to Rocky's arm, "but maybe we can tap into your power of the Falcon."

"Lothor said he did choose us because of the Ninjetti spirits."

"Oh, that was my theory. And Jason?"

"The tyrannosaurus power. He said he would've liked the set, but couldn't find you."

"One good thing about being marooned on Aquitar."

Tommy offered a half-smile. "So you think I can morph again?"

Billy nodded. "It's a definite possibility."

"What about you? Have you tried?"

"I have not."

Tommy sighed. He looked over at Aisha, who was still struggling against her bonds. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

"We can only wait."

Sensei turned his attention from his students back to Aisha, who was screaming and yelling again. He noticed the deep crimson red in her eyes and sat down in front of her. "Aisha," he said in a more commanding voice. "Stop this nonsense. You must. You know that it is not who you are. You know that. The spirit of the Yellow Bear. That is who you are."

Dustin moved to stand next to Sensei. "Dustin," called Tori. She shook her head slightly.

"It's okay," Dustin said. "I'm fine." He put his hand on his abdomen. "All healed. Almost." Dustin looked at Aisha. "The Bear, huh?" he said. "I guess we're kind of a lot alike, aren't we? Yellow rangers...Bear...Earth...bears like to dig in the earth...you have the power of the bear; me, the earth."

"Dustin..." Tori put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know if that's working."

Dustin shook Tori off and sat down next to Sensei, who nodded his head in agreement. "You're a Power Ranger," he said. "You know how cool that is? I grew up thinking the Power Rangers were some sort of myth...and now...I'm in a room full of them."

Kelly half-raised her hand. "I'm not one." Tori, Shane, Blake, and Hunter shot her a look that she had never seen from them. She got the message and immediately shut up, trying to blend into the background.

"The point is...you're a Power Ranger. And that's pretty cool." He winced, feeling a twinge of pain. "Look," he said, dropping his voice. "I know it was you." He put his hand to his abdomen. "But I don't blame you. If you want some sort of forgiveness for it, then you've got it. I know it's not you're fault. I know how it is to be tricked by them. And I know that if you were in your right mind, you wouldn't have done that. Power Rangers don't do that. And you're a Power Ranger. Yellow Ranger. The Bear."

Sensei put his hand on Dustin's shoulder. He gave him a small smile and nodded with pride. His yellow ranger had come a long way from when he first became a Power Ranger. "Thank you, Dustin." He glanced at Aisha, whose red eyes seemed to be dissipating. He noticed a hint of dark brown emerging and Rocky took her hand.

"Come on, 'Sha, fight it, just fight it," he said urgently. "Come back to me, please. Please!"

Aisha's head started to throb. She was confused and didn't feel like thinking anymore. She didn't feel like fighting and just wanted everyone to get out of her face. She clenched her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them, everybody would be gone.

No such luck.

Aisha started to see red spots before her and images of long-lost memories flashed before her eyes. She started to scream from the pain and felt someone wrap their arms around her. She vaguely noticed that the bindings that trapped her were loosened and she couldn't think of anything. Her mind was a complete blank, other than the pain she was feeling. She continued to scream, moreso out of pain, than out of trying to escape, and could feel whoever was hugging her, squeeze her tighter. She closed her eyes and felt tears pour down her face.

_Aisha held her dagger out and pointed it towards Tori. Kim pulled out her bow and carefully pulled back on the string with the arrow._

_"Are you trying to play with us?" asked Kim. "We love games."_

_"Speak for yourself," Aisha replied, with a disdainful look at Kim. "I prefer to get things done quick and easy."_

_"Well, you've waited long enough."_

_Aisha glared at Kim and threw her dagger toward the rangers. She grinned in sweet satisfaction, seeing it hit the yellow ranger squarely in his abdomen, and laughed as he collapsed to the ground, de-morphed and bleeding._

"Oh my god," Aisha whispered. "I did that."

"It wasn't you," she heard. A familiar, friendly voice that she so longed to hear. "It wasn't you, Aisha."

Aisha opened her eyes and saw Rocky with his arms around her. She noticed the bandage on his shoulder and knew that it must have been killing him to extend his arm that way. "Rocky? What?"

"It's not your fault," he said, trying to reassure her.

She shook her head and a fresh round of tears fell from her eyes. "No, it was. I knew what I was doing."

"It's okay," an unfamiliar voice said. "It is."

Aisha looked up at the curly-haired boy and her eyes welled up again. "It's you!" she cried out.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm fine."

"But...it's my fault."

"No, it wasn't. It's okay. I'm glad you're back."

"You don't even know me."

Dustin nodded slowly. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her as Rocky sat up straight. "Yeah...but, you're a Power Ranger. Better yet, you're a yellow ranger. And because of that, we're family."


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks for the reviews! Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Kim sat on the edge of the cliff, letting the wind blow through her hair. She knew that the rangers had escaped the store, but at the moment, she didn't care. She wanted, no, she needed to find Jason. Jason was the last of the psychos. He still had the power that she needed. And in order to gain that, she needed to find him.

She closed her eyes, hoping that something would spark in her mind. Kim sifted through all of the memories and voices of the rangers, trying to find something to link her to Jason. She listened to the soft ocean waves and found it to be a bit relaxing.

Kim thought back to the store and remembered seeing Jason there. She vaguely remembered telling him to get out of the way so he may be spared. She never intended to spare him. He would just be collateral damage. And maybe a tool to kill Lothor and his generals.

But first, she needed to find him.

* * *

Aisha cried loudly in Dustin's arms and all he could do was stroke her hair and try to convince her that he was okay. She didn't seem to get it through her head or just felt that guilty about what she did to Dustin.

"It's okay," Dustin kept repeating. "I'm fine. I'm all right."

Aisha couldn't answer him. She hiccuped loudly and wiped her nose with her hand. "I just...I..."

"Don't apologize. It's okay. It is. It really is. I'm fine."

"I don't...I..."

"It's okay." Dustin stroked her hair again. "It's okay." He looked at Sensei and Rocky, who both nodded at Dustin. He gave them both a small smile and continued to hug Aisha. He could feel a bond with her; it was almost as if she was his older sister. They shared the same color; they were connected.

"Here's some water," said Tori. She handed a bottle of water to Rocky.

"Thank you," he answered.

She nodded in response. "Are you going to be all right, Aisha?" she asked gently. She didn't expect an answer and just rubbed her back. "Everything will be fine," Tori said confidently. "It will." She left them and went over to Ashley and Zhane, who were standing guard over Cassie. "How's she doing?"

"She'll be fine," Ashley answered. "We stopped the bleeding and the color's coming back to her face. She's getting stronger."

"She's a fighter," Zhane said, taking her hand. He kissed it and stroked it softly. "She'll be fine."

"That's good," Tori said. "Do you think Aisha will be fine?" she asked, dropping her voice.

Ashley looked over at Aisha and Dustin. She, too, felt a connection to the two of them, with the power of yellow binding them all together. She felt bad for Aisha, but knew that she could pull through it. Especially with all of her friends behind her. She nodded at Tori. "I think she'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

* * *

Kim sat with her eyes closed. She heard whispers in the wind, but still couldn't figure out Jason's location. She didn't want to return back to Lothor's lair. Even though she was a hundred times more powerful than him and all of his generals, his nieces, and all of his Kelzacks, there was still a chance that they could overpower her. She wasn't sure if Jason was even there. But she knew that he would resurface one way or another.

And she had all the time in the world.

* * *

"Have you found anything with the morpher yet?" asked Tommy. He was careful to not refer to the psycho morpher as 'his' morpher. He could still remember and feel every little thing that he had done as the evil red psycho ranger. And he regretted every moment of it.

Now that he could think clearly, he realized how close he was to Kim. How he could have helped her, changed her somehow. He remembered the strange look in her eyes right before Lothor aimed the machine at her and wondered if that was the spell breaking. He could have kicked himself by being that close to her, but yet so far.

Tommy was still angry at her, still hurt at everything that she had done, but he felt differently. He remembered how it was to feel consumed by his anger and hurt. And he didn't like that feeling. He remembered how he felt, seeing the letter again after his parents sent him some of his old boxes. He had to stop living in the past. He had to stop living with his anger and his hurt. He couldn't physically, mentally, or emotionally take it anymore. He just wanted to make it right. He missed her and he still loved her.

He stood next to Billy and waited for his response. "I think you'll be able to morph with your Ninjetti power."

Tommy nodded. He had missed Billy. Truly missed him and everyone else. He hadn't seen anyone since he left Angel Grove and the power. He purposely didn't keep in touch with any of them, too. They reminded him of her. Everything reminded him of her. And he knew he was never really happy without her in his life. He had forgotten how to live. Forgotten what it meant to live. He knew he worried his parents, his brother. But they couldn't really say anything because he was doing decent in school and he had found a teaching assistant job that paid the bills.

"And you, Billy? Have you morphed yet?"

Billy shook his head. "Oh no, Tommy. I couldn't try that."

"Why not? You were as good a ranger as everyone else here." Tommy truly meant that. In fact, in some ways, Tommy had felt like Billy should've been leader of the rangers instead of him. He was there before Tommy and he truly embodied what it meant to be a Power Ranger. Tommy felt like Billy had grown the most as a ranger and even more so after he voluntarily stopped being a ranger.

Billy simply just shook his head again. He leaned over, closer to the morpher, screwing in a few things.

Tommy nodded, knowing when to stop pushing. He felt like he should give Billy a bit of space and knew that Billy loved it most when it was just him and his inventions. And even though Billy wasn't in the process of inventing something, he knew Billy was preoccupied with something and didn't want to disturb him. So he went over and sat down next to Adam.

"Hey man," Tommy said, putting his hand on Adam's shoulder. "How are you?" he asked quietly.

"Um...I'm not sure, yet," Adam replied. "Ask me in a couple of weeks when hopefully everything settles down."

"Couple weeks, huh?"

Adam nodded and gave Tommy a small smile. "Yeah. A couple weeks. Maybe sooner. Hopefully, right?"

Tommy smiled. "Hey, I'm sorry. About...about everything. I wish...I wish I could've done things differently. I should've done things differently."

"I'm sorry, too. About everything. We were good friends, Tommy. It shouldn't have...well, it shouldn't have come down to this." Adam gestured around him. "And..." He cleared his throat, a bit unsure of how to proceed. "I'm sorry about...um, well, I'm sorry about Kim. I should've looked out for you better. Backed you up more instead of hiding away. I should've spoken up more."

"It's all right. I should've opened up to you guys."

"Is it really all right? You really think so?" Even Adam wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about. He was thinking about the past and everything that's been going on and desperately wished that he could take some things back.

Tommy shrugged. "I think it will be. Eventually. Even and especially if it's not right now. I guess we, all of us, could work at it." He knew that Adam wasn't just talking about everything that had happened with Lothor. Tommy wanted to make things right, too. With Adam and everyone else.

Especially Kim.

Adam nodded, looking down. "Do you think Aisha's going to be okay?" he asked. "I'm kind of hiding from her right now."

"I could tell," Tommy said, smiling. "And yes, I think she'll be okay. But why are you hiding from her?"

Adam shrugged. "I don't even know. It's just...the three of us together again...I don't know. It's not weird for him, though. At least, I don't think so." He gestured to Rocky.

"Well, he has been in love with the girl since high school."

Adam smiled. "Yeah. And I think he's finally admitting it out loud now. Or soon. Or whatever." He sighed. "I'm just...I guess...I'm scared that she'll leave again. Like last time. She was like a sister to me, you know. Rocky had a bunch of siblings and the two of us...we were, well, are, only children. So we leaned on each other and...yeah, she's my sister."

Tommy nodded, understanding. "Well, then force her to have you in her life. Just so you know, I'm planning on forcing myself into all of your guys' lives." He grinned. "And Jason..."

"And Kim?"

Tommy raised his eyebrows in response. "Yeah. And Kim. Especially Kim."

"You still love her, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question. "You've always loved her. Never stopped." Adam looked at Tommy. "I'm really sorry, man. I should've said something back then. Maybe things would've been different."

Tommy nodded and shrugged. "It happened and...there's nothing we can do to change it. But thank you, anyway. The only thing we can do is learn from the past, right?" He exhaled loudly. "And, you know, I mean, we've made some mistakes in the past. But we can work to fix them, right?" He looked pleadingly at Adam, hoping for the answer that he wanted.

Adam nodded. "Yeah." He knew that Tommy was mainly talking about Kim and didn't know exactly what happened between the two of them. But he was there when Kim sent the letter to Tommy. He was there when Tommy was so thrown out of whack that he could barely lead the rangers. He was there when Tommy started a relationship with Katherine because she was simply there and gave him attention. And made him feel like a hero.

He should've said something. He knew that Tommy wasn't over Kim and should've stopped Tommy and Kat from dating each other. Maybe it would've saved them some broken hearts in the process.

"Yeah, we can fix them," he said.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	24. Chapter 24

Here's the new chapter! =)

* * *

Kim hovered over the ocean. With each passing moment, she could feel her powers growing and indulged in this newfound sensation of levitation. Kim knew she couldn't quite fly, but she felt that this gave her a definite advantage over everyone else.

Especially Jason and Lothor.

She kept her eyes peeled for any type of disturbance. Anything that interrupted her peaceful state of mind. She was on the lookout for Jason. At the moment, she needed his powers.

* * *

Jason paced back and forth in Lothor's lair. He was the only one there and figured Lothor and the rest of the generals, along with Marah and Kapri fled after the whole disaster with Kim. He didn't know what Lothor's plan was or even where they disappeared to.

He would have to figure this out on his own.

But, first, he needed some answers.

* * *

Kim could feel something happening. She could sense it through her veins. She knew she was growing more and more powerful by the minute and relished in it.

She continued to levitate over the ocean, going higher and higher. Who cared if anybody saw her? She would soon be the leader of the world.

Kim closed her eyes and listened to the wind. She always loved the peace she felt when she listened to the steady going of the wind.

_"And you, agile Kimberly. You possess the power of the Crane."_

At once, Kim lost her concentration and dropped a few hundred feet before regaining her focus. She looked around suddenly, wondering where the sudden voice had come from. Kim lowered herself onto a high cliff that overlooked the crashing waves of the ocean. She stood in silence, still wondering where she had heard that voice before.

She closed her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. She saw herself with four others that she vaguely remembered, looking up at a large tube with a floating head in it. Kim furrowed her brow, wondering where that sight came from. She shook her head, trying to remove the vision from her head.

* * *

Jason headed toward the dungeon area. He wondered if Lothor left the green samurai ranger behind in his haste to depart from the lair. He heard a soft cough and smiled a bit.

He threw open the door to the cage and squinted his eyes in the direction of the cough.

"Green ranger," Jason growled. "I know when to lower myself to your regard. I need help. You need help."

"Why should I help you?" Cam growled in return. "You captured and tortured me. You've been trying to kill me and my friends. Why should I help you?" he repeated.

"Because if you don't, you will be trapped here forever. You see what's happening, don't you?" Jason's voice deepened and he laughed evilly. "Lothor is no longer here. And it doesn't look like he's coming back anytime soon."

"And that's why you need me, isn't it? To lure him back here?"

Jason laughed again. "No. You need me more than I need you. See, look. You're trapped here. Lothor's gone. Kim's gone. I will soon be gone. Never to return to this place again."

"My friends will return. They know where I am. They'll save me. I have faith."

"You could have whatever you want, but when I leave this place. I'm going straight to the rangers to kill every last one of them."

"Then why would I help you?"

"If you convince your friends to turn over their powers to me, I will spare them."

Cam narrowed his eyes. "I will never tell them to turn over their powers to you."

Jason narrowed his eyes at him as well. He walked over to Cam and kneeled down to face him. "Get me your friends' powers and they will live. If they don't turn over their powers, they die."

"And I suppose you will be the one to kill them."

"Or Kimberly." He stood up and turned around to walk out. He slid the cage door shut and looked at Cam. "And I can guarantee you that if your friends die by my hand, it will be painless. Kimberly, on the other hand. She is who we need to stop." He turned and walked away from Cam; his footsteps echoing down the hall.

Cam watched Jason as he left. He wondered what brought about this weird change in his enemy. He thought about earlier when Cam interrupted Lothor, Kim, Jason, and Tommy. He remembered that Kim had gotten stuck in that contraption that Lothor had. _"What's going on out there?"_ he thought.

He hated that he had gotten himself captured. He felt like he wasn't doing anything to help the team. And Lothor had gotten his hand on his samurai amulet. Cam worried about the rest of the rangers and wondered how they were all doing. He knew that some of the psycho rangers had not returned and hoped desperately that it meant that they had returned to the side of good.

He looked back at the bars where Jason had left through. He wondered if he should take Jason's word and actually help the enemy.

* * *

Jason appeared on the far side of the beach. He felt a strong tug to this place and looked around carefully. Jason looked up at the cliff and saw a faint glow of pink.

"Jackpot," he said softly.

He disappeared and reappeared in front of Kimberly. "Kimberly," he said, facing her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and held her hands out in front of her, red sparks crackling in her palms. "What do you want?"

"You need my help."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. And I need yours."

Red sparks electrified between her hands. Her curiousity got the best of her and Jason knew he piqued her interest. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"If we get all of the rangers' powers, you and I can bring down Lothor."

"And then what?"

"And then we rule together."

Kim stopped the sparks between her hands and slowly walked toward Jason. "I don't trust you. How do I know that you won't kill me to take my powers away?"

"How do you know I won't?" Jason held out his hand to Kim. She looked at it warily. "We work together and we can defeat the rangers. We can defeat Lothor." Kim narrowed her eyes again. "Kimberly. I have a plan."

"I still don't trust you."

"You don't have to trust me."

"How do you know I won't kill you?"

"I don't."

"Why do you want my help?"

"Because I need it. And you need mine."

"I don't trust you."

"All right." Jason still held out his hand.

Kim stared at it, chewing her bottom lip. Her eyes flashed red and she took it. "Fine."

* * *

Here's this chapter! I do apologize for the super long absence! Got some things settled, so I should now be able to update more regularly! Thanks for reading and please review!


	25. Chapter 25

Here's the new chapter!

* * *

Aisha was sitting with tears still running down her face. She used her hand to wipe them away and while she still felt guilty and hurt by everything, she felt comforted by the presence of Dustin on her left, Ashley on her right, and Rocky sitting down in front of her. She felt a strange kinship with Ashley and Dustin, even though she had never met either of them before.

The three of them had filled her in on what was going on. They told her about the rest of the ranger teams since her own and what happened with the psycho rangers. She knew that Jason and Kim were still evil and that Billy was trying to find some way to allow her and Tommy harness their Ninjetti powers to use them.

She glanced over at Cassie, who was still lying lifeless on the table. _"She looks so peaceful," _she thought. "She'll be okay?" Aisha asked Ashley.

Ashley nodded in response. "She'll be fine. No lasting harm done." Ashley smiled. "She's no stranger to injuries. And she always comes back stronger and better than ever."

Zhane overheard the statement and looked up, nodding. "We all know the dangers coming in, Aisha."

"It shouldn't have to come from the people who we think are our friends, though."

"You're right, it shouldn't," agreed Andros, taking a seat next to Rocky, who was still rubbing her hand. "But it's easier for evil, no matter who it is, to target the people who you are closest to. Because it's easier to face you alone than when you're surrounded by help. By your friends. By the love and care that you have for one another. And that love, that care...that's the most powerful thing in the universe."

Aisha looked around, nodding slowly. She glanced over at Tommy, Adam, and Billy. Adam gave her a small smile. "Where are they?" she asked. "Jason and Kim?"

"We don't know," answered Shane, honestly. He had an apologetic look on his face as he turned his attention away from the computers. "They could be anywhere."

Tori was sitting off to the corner, watching everyone and taking everything in. Kelly was beside her, but she too, was lost in her own thoughts. She still couldn't believe that she was friends with the Power Rangers. And that she was in a room full of other rangers. The whole thing seemed a bit surreal to her. She glanced sideways at Tori, wanting to say something, but stopped when she saw the look on Tori's face. Tori was deep in thought, listening to the conversations around her and thinking about everything.

She counted down on her fingers. "Adam. Rocky. Aisha. Tommy. Six rangers, leaving Kim and Jason," she said aloud to herself.

Kelly looked at her in confusion. "What-"

"Six rangers. Lothor meant to capture Billy, but didn't, so he got Jason instead. Six rangers," she repeated.

"Tori, I'm sorry, but I'm not following," replied Kelly.

Tori shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. I guess I never realized how long this whole Power Rangers line is."

"Yeah, really," agreed Blake. He sat next to Tori and casually draped his arm around her. He nodded around. "So many rangers."

"Tommy, here," Billy said, thrusting Tommy's morpher into his hands.

Tommy looked at it in disgust but reluctantly took it from Billy. "What do I do with this?" he asked, almost awkwardly.

"Morph," answered Billy. "Your white ranger power. The power of the Falcon."

"Mr. 'Winged Lord of the Sky'," Adam added with a hint of mockery. He grinned.

Tommy rolled his eyes at Adam, but readied himself for the morph. He still looked skeptical, but Adam and Billy nodded in encouragement. Tommy shook his head slightly, but held his hands up. "White ranger power!" Immediately, Tommy felt a new, familiar power course through his veins. He levitated a bit in the air and felt the power overcome him. He closed his eyes and let it flow.

_He was standing in front of large stone. There were four openings in each of the corners and he and his friends had just defeated the last guardian. The wall of the large stone opened and numerous animal spirits flew out - an ape, a bear, a wolf, a frog, a crane, and finally, a falcon. It flew around him before completely engulfing him in its power._

A bright, white light emerged from Tommy. Everyone shielded their eyes and Tommy grinned at the familiarity of the power. He almost felt like a teenager again.

"Power of the Falcon!" he bellowed. He looked at Adam, who promptly joined him as the black Ninjetti frog. Tommy grinned and high-fived Adam as he pulled the fabric away from his face. Rocky and Aisha looked at each other and smiled at the two of them.

"Lookin' good, ol' Tommy boy," said Rocky, walking over and giving him a high-five, also. "Are you really not going to try to morph, Billy?" he asked, turning toward the former blue ranger.

Billy shook his head. "No...I'm not. Besides, I don't even have a morpher."

"There's mine." Rocky gestured to his arm. "I'm still pretty hurt."

Billy shook his head again.

"Why not? You said that you're just using the morpher to harness the power, right? The true power is within us? If Adam and Tommy could morph, you can to, right?"

Again, Billy shook his head. "No...I...I don't think so." He turned away from everyone. "I should get to work on Aisha's morpher."

Aisha gave Rocky a small smile. "You tried," she mouthed.

"You guys!" exclaimed Shane. He jumped up from his seat and pointed to the monitors. "Psychos pink and red spotted."

Andros nodded and looked around the room, gesturing to each person. "Zhane, you stay with Cassie." Zhane nodded, not even looking up from his seat next to Cassie. "Hunter, Dustin, you guys stay too."

"What!" the two of them exclaimed, both jumping up.

"You're both still recovering from your injuries. I don't want you to further put your health in danger." Andros nodded to TJ. Carlos and Ashley stood on either side of them. "Let's rocket!" he yelled.

Shane looked apologetically at Hunter. "It's only safe," he replied. Tori and Blake nodded and stood on either side of him. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Ninja storm! Ranger form!"

"Thunder storm! Ranger form!"

Tommy and Adam bumped fists against each other before calling out their powers again.

"Power of the Falcon!"

"Power of the Frog!"

In different colored beams of light, the nine rangers disappeared.

"Be safe, you guys," Aisha whispered. "Bring them home."

* * *

"See, I knew they would show up," Jason said to Kim in a mocking voice.

KIm gave him a dangerous smile. She turned toward the rangers and grinned. "Now rangers," she said in a deep and low voice. 'We can make this very easy. Or we can make this hard." She held out her hands and sparks emitted from them. "Hand over your morphers."

"No way!" exclaimed Tori.

"Hmm. Then I guess we have to do this the hard way." Kim took a step toward them and the red sparks grew more strong. "Hand over your morphers," she repeated.

"Never!" yelled Blake.

"Jason..." Tommy whispered to Adam. He nudged him and nodded toward Jason. "Look at him."

Adam noticed Jason standing a few paces behind Kim with an evil grin on his face. The red sparks from Kim's hands reflected against the dead, darkened, and black eyes of Jason's. "What's he up to?" Adam replied, barely moving his mouth.

"So you're thinking the same thing," Tommy replied. Adam nodded. Tommy held out his hand. "Hey, stay back." The two of them held back as the other rangers advanced. Kim was still too powerful for them, easily taking out Ashley, TJ, and Shane.

"What should we do?"

"Get Jason."

The two of them slowly turned around and inched their way away from Kim and the other rangers, heading toward Jason. He barely moved a muscle since his attention was focused on the battle between the rangers and Kimberly. Jason knew that Kim was more than capable of handling the rangers on her own. But if he could get her to destroy the rangers and retrieve their morphers, they could tire her out and Jason could easily overpower Kim, becoming the sole possessor of the powers.

"Hand it over!" Kim yelled. She levitated above the rangers and started shooting fireballs at the rangers.

Tommy and Adam were hiding behind a couple of piles of debris. Tommy motioned to Adam, who nodded in return. Tommy counted down with his fingers. At three, they leapt from their hiding spots and tackled Jason from behind.

"ARGH!" Jason yelled at the surprise attack.

"Jason, it's us," Tommy said in a soft voice and what he hoped was a calming voice. "Relax. Don't give in to the darkness. You can still come back to us."

Jason bellowed again and flipped the two of them over his shoulders. He kicked Adam away and grabbed Tommy by the neck, holding him high above him. "Just like old times, right?" Jason yelled. Tommy's mind flashed back to when Kim and Jason were under Maligore's spell and Jason was holding him like this then. Tommy coughed in an effort to breathe. Jason just laughed. "You remember, don't you? And look at me." Jason flexed his other arm. "I still have all the muscles and the power."

"Yeah, Jason," Tommy stammered, trying to breathe. "You do. You have all the muscles and the power." He looked around in a panic. Adam was having trouble getting up and the other rangers were still fighting Kim.

Kim...

How was he going to get out of this? Last time, Tommy had been able to flip Jason into Maligore's pit and Kim helped him pull Jason out.

What was he going to do now?

* * *

There's that chapter. Please review and thank you for reading!


	26. Chapter 26

Here's the new chapter! Thank you all so much for the reviews!

* * *

Cam carefully stood up and leaned against the wall of his prison. Pain exploded in his body and he shut his eyes, trying to ignore it. He bit his lip and continued to lean, waiting for the bulk of the pain to pass. He limped over to the gate and leaned on it, putting all his weight onto it.

The gate squeaked open and Cam fell out. He reached out and grabbed the bars before falling to the ground again and held them tightly to lift himself up.

"Jason must've left it open accidentally," Cam said out loud. He furrowed his brow. "Unless...unless he didn't. I don't trust the guy."

He tiptoed as silently as he could and held his breath whenever he heard a whisper or approached an opening. "Where is everybody?" Cam quietly entered Lothor's lair and was a little surprised to find that it was completely deserted. Barely even a trace that Lothor and his minions were there. "This is getting a little bit more weird..." Cam slowly paced up and down the room. "How do I get out of here?" He heard a loud noise and flinched at the sound. He quickly jumped behind Lothor's large chair and pressed himself tightly against it.

"Shh! Be careful. And be quiet!"

"It's kind of hard to when I haven't quite reached equilibrium yet. You know, getting stabbed does take a lot out of you. Besides, it kind of looks like we're the only ones here, dude."

Cam smiled to himself. He recognized these voices. He placed his hands around the edges of the chair and used it to prop himself up.

"It does seem a little quiet. A little too quiet. Be alert, though."

"Sure thing, dude!"

"You guys?" Cam said in a low voice. He coughed a bit, not used to expending his waning energy to yell across the room.

"Shh, did you hear that?"

"No, what was it?"

Cam saw Hunter hold up a finger to his lips and he and Dustin slowly and carefully entered the main room of Lothor's lair. He saw that they were both unmorphed, yet were both holding long ninja sticks, smart enough to not sneak into Lothor's lair weaponless. "It's me, guys," Cam breathed out.

"Cam?" asked Hunter, softly. "Where are you?"

"And where's everyone else?" asked Dustin in a louder voice. Hunter elbowed him and shot him a look. Dustin widened his eyes and mouthed an apology.

"I'm behind Lothor's chair...I need some help getting up..."

Hunter and Dustin immediately made a beeline towards Lothor's chair and the two of them gasped when they saw Cam face-to-face. "Cam...oh my gosh..." Cam's face was so beaten in that it was barely recognizable. His glasses seemed to be hanging on by a thread. Cam's clothes were torn and blood was drying up from the cuts and scrapes that were evident on his face and arms. Hunter was sure that there were more cuts and bruises on other places of his body. Cam could barely move, so Hunter leaned down and draped Cam's arm around his neck.

"You sure?" asked Cam, gesturing towards Hunter's hurt leg. It was still splinted up and Hunter walked around with a limp.

Hunter nodded. "Of course I'm sure." Dustin leaned over and draped Cam's other arm around his neck. "You good, Dustin?"

Dustin nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"How did you guys get here?" asked Cam.

"You should save your strength," answered Hunter. "And everyone's off fighting the last two psychos."

"Red and pink?" Cam looked around in a panic. "They're trying to get your guys' powers!"

"Calm down. They didn't want us to come since..." Hunter gestured to his leg and Dustin. "So we were able to get a lock on Lothor and noticed that he, along with the other generals and stuff, were no longer on his lair. Since red and pink are currently preoccupied with the others, we thought we would be able to come and save you. Zhane is still back at Ninja Ops with Cassie and Rocky and Aisha are there, too. Oh, and your dad's back."

Cam looked overwhelmed at the flood of information. "Wait, what?"

Hunter looked around warily. "I'd feel more comfortable explaining more back at Ninja Ops."

Cam nodded. "Of course."

* * *

"J-j-j...Jason..." Tommy stammered. He brought both of his hands up to try to pry Jason's hand off of his throat. He coughed, loudly.

Jason merely laughed. He flexed his arm again. "I am the most powerful!"

"Y-ye-yeah, you...you are."

Adam struggled to raise himself up, but after what seemed like hours, he got up. "Tommy!" he yelled. Jason and Tommy either didn't hear him or ignored him. He grabbed a rock and threw it at Jason. It bounced off of him like it was a foam ball and Jason didn't even even flinch. It looked like he didn't even feel it.

Adam scrunched his face up in concentration. If he was able to morph, surely he could use his old Ninjetti powers, too, right? Adam summoned all of his strength and stood up, painless. He steathily creeped toward Jason and threw a double kick to Jason's head, forcing Jason to let go of Tommy.

Tommy fell to the ground, coughing and holding onto his neck. He rolled over so that he was on all fours, coughing for air_. "Oh my gosh_," he thought_. "I could have died_..." He looked up and saw that Adam was fighting Jason. Jason didn't seem to be using any of his new powers that he received when he got that blow from Lothor, so it looked fairly even. But Tommy could tell that Adam was getting tired.

He fell back to the ground, still struggling to breathe. Once he stood up, he closed his eyes and silently called upon his power again. Tommy felt another wave of power surge through him and he grew stronger. "No, Jason!" he exclaimed. Tommy ran over and fought alongside Adam.

Kim laughed maniacally. Her eyes glowed red and as she floated above everyone, a faint pink glow circled around her. She continued to shoot fireballs and red sparks from her hands.

Tori watched the former pink ranger before her. She was peeking from behind a large rock and seemed to lose the other rangers around her. She knew they were close by because she could still hear them yelling. And she knew that they were still fighting. Tori felt a bit ashamed to be hiding behind the rock. She was a ranger, too, but at the moment, she was terrified out of her mind.

How were they going to beat Kim? They couldn't even get close enough to her to scratch her.

Whatever happens, she was going to do it alongside her fellow rangers. Tori took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before stepping out from behind the rock. As soon as she turned around, Kim shot a red spark that hit Tori square in the chest.

Tori immediately demorphed and fell to the ground. Kim laughed loudly as she descended upon her. Without kneeling to retrieve the morpher, Kim summoned it from Tori and clasped it to her arm. "Two down. One more ninja to go. Navy won't know what hit him." She laughed again as she held up her arm, proudly showing the red and blue morphers that belonged to Shane and Tori.

"Ashley!" yelled Andros. He motioned for her to come back. "Let's go." TJ nodded next to him, who had Shane's arm around his shoulders. Ashley looked between them and Kim. Kim was still laughing and holding her arm high above her. Ashley looked back at Andros in defeat. She motioned for his help in retrieving Tori and looked around for Blake. She couldn't find him.

"Leaving so soon, rangers?" Kim asked, mockingly. "We were just getting started."

Andros looked around and saw Tommy and Adam fighting Jason. Jason struck them both down in a single kick. "Tommy!" he yelled. "Let's go back."

Tommy shook his head as he swung himself up. "Not without them!"

"They're too strong! We have to go back!"

Tommy shook his head again. "NO!"

Andros looked back and saw Blake crawling towards Ashley and TJ. He was demorphed and Andros quickly searched him for his morpher. He saw it hanging off of Blake's hand and breathe a sigh of relief. He looked closely at Blake and felt his heart sink. Tears were steadily flowing down his face as he noticed Tori lying unconscious in front of Ashley. Kim was still attacking them TJ used his free hand to shoot his blaster at her. Andros turned and nodded at Tommy. "TJ! Head back. Now."

TJ nodded and in a swift movement, he, Ashley, Shane, Tori, and Blake disappeared. Andros stood with Tommy and Adam. Jason took a step back. He noticed that Kim had two of the morphers.

"KIMBERLY! GIVE THOSE TO ME!"

"NO!"

"GIVE IT, KIM!"

"I SAID NO!"

"KIMBERLY!" Jason groaned as he abandoned Tommy, Adam, and Andros. He directed a beam of electricity toward Kim, who deflected it with a wave of her hand.

"No, I don't think so," she said, calmly. She slowly walked toward Jason. "You think I don't know what you were trying to do?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tommy, Adam, and Andros stood behind Jason, unsure of what to do. They kept looking between Jason and Kim.

"Of course you do. You know exactly what I am talking about, Jason Lee Scott." Kim bared her teeth menacingly. "You wanted me to do your dirty work while you stayed in the background. You wanted me out of the way so you could rule all. Well, Jason Lee Scott, you have just met your match."

Kim levitated herself high into the air and held her hands out in front of her. Red sparks erupted from her hands, stronger than anything Tommy, Adam, and Andros had ever seen.

"Goodbye Jason Lee Scott. It's been nice knowing you." Kim shot red sparks toward Jason, hitting square in the chest. She laced them with fireballs and strengthened the electric shocks.

Jason seemed to illuminate in the air before falling to the ground.

Kim looked at Andros, Tommy, and Adam. "I will be seeing you soon. Be sure of it."

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


	27. Chapter 27

Here's the new chapter! Thank you all so much for the reviews!

* * *

It took a split second, one that lasted forever, before Tommy and Adam reacted. When they came to, Tommy immediately ran over to Jason and caught him before he actually hit the ground. Adam ran to his side and kneeled down beside them. Andros hung back a bit, unsure at what he should do and how he should react. He felt sympathy for Tommy and Adam and felt sadness for Jason. But he didn't know Jason too well. They only met and got to know each other during the moon mission. And Andros deeply admired Jason.

"Billy. Billy, can you hear me?" Adam asked, speaking into his communicator. "Billy, get us out of here. As soon as you can. Please hurry."

Tommy held Jason close to him. Tears gathered in his eyes, but he tried his hardest to hold them back. He heard the ragged breathing coming from Jason's mouth and could feel a faint heartbeat in his chest. "Jason?" he asked, tentatively. "Jason..." Tommy closed his eyes and hugged Jason close to him.

Adam and Andros stood protectively around the two. They glanced at each other and Adam looked around, hoping desperately that Billy would teleport them as fast as he could.

Jason's eyes fluttered open. He took heavy, deep breaths and focused on Tommy. "B...b...br...bro..."

"Shh...save your strength, Jason." Tommy noticed the dark brown of Jason's eyes and knew that the spell was broken. He just wished that it was under different circumstances. "Hey Bro, just save your strength okay. Don't say anything."

"T...t..to...Tommy..."

In a flash, the four of them disappeared. They reappeared at Ninja Ops and Billy led them to another makeshift bed. Tommy and Adam carefully laid Jason down and Billy and Ashley moved in to check on Jason.

"Tori and Shane?" Andros asked Ashley quietly.

"They're fine," replied TJ. He gestured toward Blake, Shane, Tori, Hunter, Dustin, Kelly, and Cam sitting nearby. Andros stared at Cam for a bit, silently wondering where he came from. "_Doesn't matter know, at least he was back," _he thought.

"How are you guys?" asked TJ, breaking his thoughts. He wasn't looking at Andros, instead, he, along with everyone else in the room, kept their eyes on Jason. Andros almost didn't notice Cassie sitting up and leaning against Zhane. He nodded to her, glad that she was okay and moved closer to Jason's bed.

"To...Tommy," Jason whispered in a ragged breath.

"Hey, just let them check you out, all right?" replied Tommy in a soft voice. "And Billy...Billy's here, Jase. We're all here, okay. We're all pulling for you."

Jason slightly shook his head. "N...nn...no." He coughed violently. "Tommy...I...I...I'm...so...sor...sorry..."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault, all right? You were under a spell."

Jason coughed again. "N..no...for...for everything...every...so...sor...so sorry..."

Tommy looked confused. "Jason, please stop. Just save you're strength."

"You...you're..." Jason reached up and grabbed the front of Tommy's shirt. "You're...my...my br...brother, man...I...I'm...sorry..." He coughed again. "Through...even...through...even...even...with...with ev...everything...I...I miss you..."

Tommy blinked away tears, feeling like he had to be strong and not show weakness, especially in front of Jason and the other rangers. He cleared his throat. "I, um...I missed you, too. But, hey, we'll catch up when you get better, okay?"

Adam turned away from the scene and let his tears fall from his eyes. They landed in two large splotches on his shirt and Aisha enveloped him in a big hug. Rocky put his arms around the two of them and pulled them in for a long hug. The three of them cried together as Tommy and Jason continued to speak with one another. Billy's eyes were filled with tears as he hooked Jason up to a number of machines. He scrunched his face up and furrowed his brow, trying to keep his composure.

"B...Bi..Billy..." came Jason's ragged voice.

Tommy looked up and Billy and nodded for him to sit down on the other side of Jason. Billy nodded and took a seat. "Yes, Jason?" he asked, taking Jason's hand.

"You...you..." Another violent cough came from Jason's mouth. "I...when...I...when...we..."

"Jason, don't talk anymore. Just save your strength."

Jason coughed again. "You...always...you..." He looked a bit frustrated with himself trying to get the words out. "...you...long...a long...long...way...I...me...proud..." His grip in Billy's hand slackened.

Billy held his hand tighter. "Hang on, Jason, okay!" he exclaimed, jumping up. "Don't let go yet...please, just hang on!" He glanced at Tommy with tears in his eyes.

Jason looked back at Tommy. He slowly took his hand from Tommy's grip and slowly placed it on Tommy's shoulder. He squeezed, a lot lighter than what Tommy was used to from Jason. "My...my brother. Always." Jason's eyes closed and the tears that had long been threatening to fall from Tommy's eyes were finally released.

"Jason!" Tommy yelled, burying his face into Jason's chest. "No..."

* * *

Kinda short, but the next chapter will be up within the next couple of days! Hope you enjoyed reading and please review!


	28. Chapter 28

Here's the new chapter! Thank you all so much for the reviews! Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Kim danced around the top of what she called "her cliff." She threw the two morphers in the air and used her powers to juggle them high above her. She would have preferred to have the entire set of morphers, especially the Ninja morphers, but with only these two morphers, she felt infinitely more powerful and unstoppable.

And she knew that she was.

Kim levitated the morphers a few inches above her hand as she she floated in the air, looking out onto the sea. The waves were crashing loudly against the shore and the wind was fiercely blowing around her.

"Time for you to get exactly what you deserve, Lothor," she said in a clear, deep voice.

* * *

Kelly looked around Ninja Ops, feeling as if she were barging in on a completely private moment. This world was still brand new to her; she didn't know anybody else in this room other than Blake, Tori, Shane, Dustin, and Hunter. At least she thought she did. And look at what they really are. Power Rangers.

She felt really bad for everyone else, though. The guy on the table, Jason, was it? She remembered him from the store. The way he completely destroyed her life's work. Nobody was really explaining anything to her, so she was forced to make a few assumptions and hoped that they were right. Apparently, he was under some sort of spell or something to make him evil. And that broke because the other crazy ranger - the pink one - hurt him from what she saw from the monitors.

The faint beeping of the machines filled the room, signaling that Jason was still alive, but very weak. Everybody was silent, not knowing what to say or if anything should even be said.

Zhane tried to quietly clear his throat. "Um...sorry, guys...but...it looks like Lothor's reappeared." He pointed to one of the monitors. "Down near...the Abyss of Evil..."

Cassie glanced at another monitor that started beeping uncontrollably. "And it looks like Kim's on her way," she added in a sad, sorrowful voice.

Aisha, Rocky, Adam, Billy, and Tommy glanced at each other. "We have to get her," said Aisha. "We have to get her back." Stopping Lothor was the last thing on her mind now. She only wanted her friend by her side.

Tommy nodded and looked down at Jason. He could still hear the shallow breaths coming from him, but other than that, he looked peaceful. Tommy stood up and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Billy...what about you, Aisha, and Rocky? I don't want you guys to get hurt out there. Can't you..."

Billy looked pained as he shook his head. "I'm sorry...I haven't made any progress with Aisha's morpher and I haven't even looked at Rocky's yet."

"That's okay. The three of you will have to stay hidden. Whatever you do, don't get involved in the fight."

Rocky nodded. "We will, but you know that we'll try to help in any way we can."

"Stay hidden."

Shane stood up. He gestured to his team behind him. "Lothor is our fight. Let us finish him."

"Without morphers?" Tommy asked, not meaning to be rude.

Blake held his out. "We have morphers. And Shane and Tori have their ninja powers."

"Fine. But leave Kim to me. And don't hurt her."

"Tommy, I'm sorry and I really mean no disrespect, but if psycho pink attacks me or one of my teammates, I will be out for the kill." Blake's gaze settled on Tori.

Tommy's face hardened. "She's under a spell. She can't help what she's doing."

"Yeah, and that's exactly why your friend over there is lying on his death bed." As soon as the words left his mouth, Blake regretted him and didn't fight back as Tommy flew across the room and shoved him against the wall.

"Tommy..." said Billy, softly. He shook his head sadly. "Stop." For a quick second, Billy thought he was watching the evil green ranger again.

Tommy released his hold on Blake. "You have no idea, kid...none at all."

"I may not know what it's like to be under an evil spell, but I do know what it's like to be tricked by the bad guys," Blake replied, attitude laced in his answer.

Tommy shook his head, knowing that it wasn't the same. He looked back at Jason and fought off his urge to respond to Blake in the same manner. "Fine," he said.

"Let's go," Shane said, motioning to his teammates. He, Tori, and Blake ran out of Ninja Ops. Cam, Hunter and Dustin looked at each other and took off after them.

"But you're injured!" Kelly yelled, forgetting that everyone was around.

Dustin turned around half-way and held up his yellow morpher. "We have morphers."

"But they don't!" protested Kelly, meaning Shane and Tori.

"They'll be fine," replied Hunter. He tapped Dustin and the two of them used their ninja speed to disappear. Cam shook his head slightly before hurrying to catch up with them.

Kelly sat, resigned to her seat. She exhaled loudly and looked around, realizing that she didn't really know anyone there. All of her own friends had gone.

"They will be fine, Kelly," said Sensei in his calm and reassuring voice. "They have learned well." Kelly opened her mouth to respond, but closed it at the look on Sensei's face.

"It's time for us to go, too," said Tommy. In a flash, he and Adam reappeared in their Ninjetti suits.

"Tommy-" started Andros.

"Andros," he responded, cutting him off. "Lothor is their fight and Kim is ours. Thank you, so much, for your help, all of you, but we've got to get her back on our own."

"I don't have a good feeling about that."

"We can help distract Kim," said Ashley.

"Or Lothor," replied Carlos.

"But..." Tommy looked over at Jason. He felt uneasy leaving him alone.

"I'll stay, Tommy," Cassie said. She noticed the look of wariness on Tommy's face and knew that if the roles were reversed, she would want someone that she could trust to stay and take care of the person that she thought of as a brother or sister. "I'll call if anything...if anything changes."

Tommy looked at Adam, Billy, Rocky and Aisha. "All right," he said finally. He looked at Andros, TJ, Zhane, Carlos, and Ashley. "But don't hurt her. Please."

"We won't," reassured TJ.

In another flash, the Ninjetti rangers disappeared. Andros looked around at his teammate before nodding to Sensei and Kelly. "You rest up, Cassie. We need you out there." She nodded and smiled, raising a hand in farewell. Andros looked at his teammates. "Let's rocket!" he yelled. He, TJ, Carlos, Ashley, and Zhane morphed and disappeared in five different colored beams of light.

"Be careful, all of you," Cassie said, taking a seat at Jason's bed side. "We'll be right here, waiting."


	29. Chapter 29

Thank you all for reading and thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad you all enjoy the story and I hope that you continue reading.

Here's the next chapter!

* * *

"We have to hurry before that blasted pink ranger finds us," yelled Lothor.

"What are we even looking for?" asked Marah.

"Don't worry about it!"

Marah and Kapri looked at each other and shrugged. They continued digging until they saw a large crack in the earth that they did not do.

"Oh...Uncle?" said Kapri, with a smug grin on her face.

"What!"

"Look what I found."

"I found it,' protested Marah.

"No, I did!"

"Well, I have the shovel."

"So? I have one, too." Kapri held hers up. Marah made a face at her and threw her own shovel down.

"SHUT UP!" Lothor and his generals shoved everyone out of the way. "Yes, this is it...good work, Pari."

"And Marah!" Marah made another face at Kapri, who smiled and blew on her fingertips.

Lothor waved a hand in dismissal. "The power source is in here. When I find it, it will take all of the powers away from that damn pink ranger."

"But, Uncle, I thought you wanted her to be powerful."

"NOT MORE THAN ME!"

Marah and Kapri looked at each other and shrugged. "But won't it turn her good again?"

Lothor looked at them in disgust. He looked around at his generals and waved one forward. "Choobo! Get down there and destroy the power source!"

Choobo looked down at the pit. He made a whimpering sound as he slowly took a step forward. Flames spit up from the opening and he jumped backward, knocking Kapri over. "Me?"

"YES! GO!" Lothor raised a leg and aimed it at Choobo, but a familiar dark and heavy laughter filled the air.

Everyone looked around in fear. Some of the generals clutched their shovels more tightly and grouped closer together. The laugher sounded as if it was coming from everywhere around them. Kapri jumped up and she and Marah clutched each other. Lothor's eyes widened.

"Pink ranger!" he said, menacingly. His voice did not share the same fear that was written on his face. "GET OUT AND SHOW YOUR FACE!"

Kim laughed again. Everyone jumped away from the direction of the voice. "I've been looking for you, Lothor," she said, floating out of the wooded area.

"She can fly!" Kapri and Marah said in unison.

Lothor pounded his chest. "Well, you found me, pink ranger!"

"Yeah. I did, didn't I?" She eyed him as she floated down. Then she violently threw a red electric spark at his chest. Lothor yelled out in pain and fell to ground, on all fours.

Kapri and Marah looked at each other in fear. They both dropped to the ground and began crawling away.

* * *

"There she is!" yelled Shane. He and the others ninja-ran to the Abyss of Evil.

"Oh great," Kim said, seeing the rangers. "Teenagers." She rolled her eyes and turned around to face them. "And what can I do for you." The red sparks intensified in her hands.

"Yes!" yelled Lothor. He raised a fist in triumph from the ground, still clutching his chest. "The Power Rangers will defeat you!"

Dustin looked at Lothor in confusion as Kim directed another electric spark toward him. "Shut it, you!"

"We want our morphers back!" yelled Tori, defiantly. She stamped her foot.

"KIMBERLY!"

Kim casually glanced over her shoulder and saw Tommy and Adam. She rolled her eyes again and dropped her hands. "Great. More for the party. Should I be expecting more?"

"Yeah," a new voice said. "Us!"

Kim looked in the direction of the new, unrecognizable voice and again, rolled her eyes. "You know, this was not an open invitation party. I don't really like party-crashers." She spun in a circle with the red sparks emitting from her hands again. The rangers dodged the sparks and all of them dropped to the ground.

"What do we do?" asked Blake. "You guys need to get your morphers."

"You guys have to morph!" demanded Shane. "Just because we don't have ours doesn't mean you can't use yours."

"What? No!"

"Yeah," agreed Hunter. "All or nothing, right?"

Shane shook his head. "I don't agree with this."

"We're a team. We're gonna fight like a team, with or without morphers."

Shane pursed his lips and nodded. "All right. Let's do this." He and the rest of the rangers faced Lothor and his generals. They all took up a fighting stance. "Aim for the Kelzacks and the generals first. Then we'll get Lothor."

"Unless the pink ranger gets to him first."

"Leave the pink ranger to Tommy and Adam." Shane looked around. "Ready, everyone?" They all nodded. "Let's go, guys." Shane, Tori, Hunter, Blake, and Dustin squared up and ran out. They began fighting the Kelzacks and even took out a couple of Lothor's generals at the same time, shoving them into the Abyss of Evil.

Kim, on the other hand, was hoping to get a piece of the Ninja Storm rangers, but was preoccupied by the lightning fast moves of the space rangers.

Tommy and Adam were carefully discussing strategy. They could care less about Lothor; the only thing on their minds was Kim and how they could get to her. Adam glanced around. The Ninja Storm rangers seemed to be handling Lothor's generals and the Kelzacks all right. It looked like they were down to three or four generals and about a handful of Kelzacks.

"_Not bad for no morphers_," Adam thought wryly. He noticed that all of them were not morphed even though Blake, Hunter, Dustin, and Cam had full use of their morphers. Adam saw Lothor creep up behind Hunter and tackled him to the ground. Hunter reached out for his morpher, but it bounced away at the force Lothor used on him. Adam tore his gaze away, wanting to help, but knew that he and Tommy were there for a different purpose.

Kimberly gave a loud, terrible yell and the space rangers were all thrown back. Kim snarled and levitated towards the ninja rangers. Lothor looked up at Kim and grabbed Hunter, using him as a shield, cowering behind the crimson ranger.

"TAKE HIM!" Lothor yelled.

Hunter stared at his abandoned morpher helplessly. It was lying just two feet away from him, but he was in no position to retrieve it. He saw Dustin's morpher lying close to him, but it was still moving. Dustin was crawling after it.

"_Noo!" _Dustin thought. He was lying on his stomach, trying to reach his morpher. The pain in his abdomen returned and with every move, Dustin felt as if a knife was stabbing him again. He touched the morpher with his fingertips and crawled after it in a hurry. He winced as he continued to feel pain. The morpher was nearly in his hands, but the sweat from his hands forced it to slip out of his reach. "Oh, come on!" he yelled in exasperation. He took a swipe at the morpher and it slipped out of his reach into the Abyss of Evil. "NOOO!" he yelled.

Everything moved in slow motion. The morpher falling into the Abyss of Evil. Tori, Shane, Blake forcing three of the generals into the Abyss. The last general tearing at the green Samurai amulet around Cam's neck and his subsequent falling into the Abyss after his gleeful yell of triumph. Hunter reaching behind him and kicking Lothor far from him.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

The authority and fire in Kim's voice forced everyone to stop. The Ninja Storm rangers moved next to each other and Tori gave Dustin a tight hug. Hunter eyed his nearby morpher and Shane put a hand on his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter now," he whispered in defeat.

Andros, TJ, Zhane, Ashley, and Carlos ran and moved next to the Ninja rangers. They demorphed and all of them slowly spread out into a large circle, surrounding Kim, Lothor, and the Abyss of Evil.

"You," she simply said. Everyone glanced at each other in fear, wondering who she was pointing to. Kim started waving her finger and Lothor was unwillingly raised into the air.

He curled into a fetal position, in spite of his position in the middle of the air. He whimpered, afraid at what was to come. Tori watched him, feeling a little sorry for him. She didn't want to watch, but she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"Yes. You," Kim said again.

"Pink ranger," whimpered Lothor. "P..p...please..."

"Please?" Kim mocked. She laughed loudly. "I don't think so."

In a flash, Lothor was spread-eagled in the air, screaming the most terrible things they have ever heard. Kim was torturing him slowly and they couldn't do anything about it.

The rangers stood by, watching for the next fifteen to twenty minutes, helpless and unsure of what they could do. On one hand, they wanted Kim and Lothor to destroy each other, but on the other, neither Kim nor Lothor deserved to go out like that. Blake and Hunter looked at each other, trying to formulate a plan with their eyes.

"NOW!" Blake yelled. He and Hunter threw their morphers high in the air and Kim, excited at the sight of two more ninja morphers let go of her hold on Lothor.

He screamed as he fell. Though he was quickly falling, he looked around, at everything in slow motion. He knew his impending doom was to come. There was no fighting it and no way he could get around it. When he would reach the ground, he knew that he would land in the Abyss of Evil. And that it would destroy him alive.

Lothor looked around, trying to appreciate everything that he so long hated. The smell of the air, the bright green of the trees, the wind that crashed around him. He looked around and settled his final gaze on Cam. This was his nephew, the son of his brother. A brother that he had so long hated and despised.

Cam watched as the uncle he never knew was falling to his death. He learned of the history between his father and his twin brother when he travelled back in time and retrieved the Samurai amulet. He was taken aback at the look that Lothor was giving him. He saw a mixture of defiance and something else in his eyes. Was it regret? Did Lothor really regret what he has done? All the evil that he spread around?

As Lothor continued to gaze at Cam, Cam understood. He didn't regret any of it. What he regretted was the distance between him and his brother. Lothor didn't regret his choices nor did he regret his quest for power. But he wanted his brother.

Cam nodded at Lothor.

This simple gesture seemed to bring peace to Lothor. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and let the fire engulf him.


	30. Chapter 30

Thanks for reading! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Kim jumped at the sight of the ninja morphers flying through the air. She was mildly aware that she had released her hold on Lothor, but since she held him above the Abyss of Evil, she figured that he would fall in and just die already. She floated as fast as she could toward the closest morpher - the crimson thunder morpher. She reached for it, but was distracted by the navy morpher falling into the Abyss.

"No!" she yelled, reaching for the navy morpher. It slipped through her fingertips and reached around for the crimson morpher. It, too, slipped through her fingers and fell into the Abyss of Evil. "NOOOOO!" She whipped around and saw the rangers standing before her. She screamed loudly. "YOU!"

She quickly floated toward the ninja rangers with her arms outstretched. "Prepare to meet your end, rangers." The red sparks cackled in her hands.

Andros looked around and saw Tommy. Tommy gestured to Andros. "Head over there," Tommy mouthed. He hoped that Andros could see him and if he couldn't, that he knew what he was talking about.

Tommy was truly grateful that Andros and the rest of his team came to the rescue of the Ninja Storm rangers. Even if it was against him and his old friends. He and Andros had grown close before and during the moon mission and Tommy knew that the others revealed themselves as Power Rangers in front of all of Angel Grove. Because of that, they were forced to forever leave behind the lives that they grew up with and the family and friends that they knew. They couldn't go back to Angel Grove - nobody would leave them alone.

He pointed again. Andros nodded in understanding. "Head her down there." He pointed to a clearing. "Away from the Abyss." Andros looked back at Tommy. He saw him and Adam motioning for Billy, Rocky, and Aisha to come out.

Although he would never say it aloud, Andros deeply admired Tommy. Even on KO-35, he had heard of Tommy. Of his becoming the evil green ranger and overcoming it, joining the team of the Power Rangers on Earth. He heard of all of Tommy's power upgrades and the different ranger colors he had been. He'd always seemed legendary.

And when he and Tommy met, Andros was a little afraid of him. Not that he was afraid of Tommy physically hurting him or even what he thought of him, but Andros was afraid that Tommy would hate him a bit or even a lot for what he had done to Zordon. But Tommy had been understanding of what happened and even offered a helping hand to him. So it was only natural that when Andros found out about the Machine Empire's old generals trying to revitalize Serpentera, he had immediately went to Tommy for help. And with his help, they had gathered all of the red rangers, except one, to destroy the remaining members of the Machine Empire.

"TJ, Carlos, over there." Andros gestured to one end. "Zhane." He nodded to another direction. "Everyone spread out, all right!"

The rangers followed Andros' instructions and immediately spread out, forming a large circle around Kim. She stopped, seeing the rangers circle around her.

"So..." she started in an icy voice. "You're all going to try and gang up on me. Now isn't that great." She floated higher and higher and turned around in slow circles. "You know you won't win against me."

Kim looked down at the unmorphed rangers. "_Do they really think they can win? Even without the extra morphers, I am all powerful. They can't beat me." _Kim grinned at the rangers. She looked around at each of them and shook her head.

"Pity," she said. "Pity, pity, pity." She dared them to say something to her. "Give up already, rangers. You've lost. Don't you get it? Give up and I might just let you go. I'm feeling pretty merciful today." She smiled at them. "Run," she added in a whisper. "Run while you still have the time." She held up her hand, counting down the seconds. "One. Two. Thre-"

"KIMBERLY!" Tommy yelled. He, Adam, Billy, Rocky, and Aisha ran forward and joined the circle. "Kimberly," he said, in defeat. "Stop this. It's not you. Please."

Kim laughed. "And so more join the party. This should be fun."

"Come down here, Kimberly!" yelled Billy. "Get down here, now!"

"Please come down now!" pleaded Aisha. There were tears in her eyes as she cried out to her friend. "Kim...please!"

"We're all here. We're here for you, Kim. No matter what's happened. We're here," added Adam, softly.

"Please Kim," echoed Rocky. "I miss you...we've all missed you. It hasn't been the same without you."

Kim snarled at her old friends. She screamed out in a mixture of pain, anger, and fury. "SHUT UP!" She twirled around and the red sparks cackled in her hands again.

"Stop it, Kim. Please. Just come down here," said Tommy. "Please. We need you." He took a step toward Kim and extended his hand. "I need you."

Kim yelled again, but slowly moved down toward the rangers. She stood in the middle of all of the rangers, but faced her old friends. "I will defeat you all."

"Kim..."

"Stay away from me. It shouldn't be too hard. You've done it long enough."

Tommy stopped moving toward her, taken aback at what she said. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say. "I-uh...I..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Kimberly," pleased Aisha. "Come on. I know this isn't you. It hasn't been for months. Remember? Me and you in Geneva?"

Kim cocked her head toward Aisha and glared at her. "As I said before, stay away from me."

Kim's words pierced Aisha like a knife in her heart. This was her best friend talking to her like they were the biggest enemies. The tears in her eyes fell down her face and she didn't bother wiping them away. She shook her head. "Please Kim..."

She snarled again and screamed. Shane held up a fist and he and Blake made a move toward Kim.

"No," Andros said, holding up an arm to block them. "Leave her to them."

"But-"

"No, leave it to them"

Blake and Shane glanced at each other and gave each other a grim nod. "Fine."

Kim screamed and let out a shower of red sparks from her hands. She aimed in no particular direction and just held her hands above her. To a person outside of the situation, they might have thought it was an early Fourth of July celebration, with only red fireworks.

Billy and Tommy looked at each other in worry. "What do we do?" Billy asked.

"I don't know..." Tommy said. "I have no idea..."

Kim looked at Billy and turned her head to the side like she was thinking about something. "Kim?" Billy asked, carefully. He slowly took a step toward her and held out his hand. "Please..."

Kim stared at Billy. Something about him seemed so familiar to her. A sudden pain hit her head. She dropped her hands and brought them to her temples. She saw herself and Billy in the park. She was dressed all in pink and he, in blue. They were fighting...what were they called again? Those putty things...Kim shook her head trying to get the image out of her head.

She stared at Billy again, feeling the pride she felt at the time after seeing Billy fight off the putties. She remembered thinking that in so short a time, he had come a long way. From being all holed up into his shell, he became more outgoing and grew in his fighting abilities.

"Stay away from me," she demanded in an icy voice. Billy stopped walking toward her.

"Wait..." Adam said, softly. "Something's happening. I think...I think she's...she's remembering. The same thing happened to me." He put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "It hurt...it hurt so bad. My head, my body...everything. But I still saw...the things that I had seen, that I remembered...it was there."

"So, what should we do?"

"Let it come, I guess. Help her through it. It hurts...it hurts a lot...and Kim...what she's been through, what she's done..." Adam trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

"It'll be hard since she's got those special powers now," said Rocky. He made a motion with her hands and made a cackling sound.

"We've got to," said Aisha. "It's Kim. We have to do all that we can. She's one of us."

Tommy nodded. He faced her. "Kim...let us help you. Please."

Kim waved her hand, throwing Tommy to the ground. "Shut up." The strange memories seemed to reinvigorate her drive to destroy them. "And get out of my way." She walked slowly towards her old friends and headed straight for Adam.

Adam's heart started beating faster and faster. He could tell that she aimed for him. _"So, she's gonna pick us off, one by one,"_ he thought.

"You first, froggy boy." She held her hands out.

"Wait, what?" asked Adam. "What did you say?"

Kim looked taken aback. She dropped her hands. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"What did you say?" Adam repeated.

"You heard what I said."

"Yeah. But I want you to repeat it."

"I don't want to." She didn't like where this was going. It felt like she was losing control of the whole situation. And he seemed to be taking control of it.

A hint of a smile crossed Adam's face. "You called me 'froggy boy.' You remember, don't you?"

Kim's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." Adam took a step toward her, with his hands outstretched. "You remember, don't you? I'm the frog. You're the crane." He glanced at his fellow Ninjetti rangers. "The bear, the wolf, the ape, and...and the falcon. You remember."

Kim shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Adam's heart fell as he looked deeply into Kim's red eyes. There was no sign of recognition or familiarity in her eyes. He reached for her hand. "Kim, please remember."

She looked surprised at the gesture and didn't move her hand out of his. At his touch, she saw herself and her old friends standing atop a large stone fixture, with a female warrior of some type. She pulled her hand out of Adam's and glared at him. "Again, stay away from me." She kicked him in the stomach and he fell to the ground.

"ARRGGGGGGHHHH!" she yelled, bringing her hands to her head. The pain returned to her head; this time it was joined by a loud, annoying ringing sound. It was almost like an ambulance's siren, but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from. She saw herself and her old friends together again, but was trying to fight the memories and feelings that were flooding her mind and body. "MAKE IT STOP!"

Kim dropped to her knees, holding her hands to her head. She started to glow red.

"Kim?" started Tommy, slowing walking toward her. He knelt down next to her and gently put her hand on his shoulder. When she didn't flinch or move away from his touch, he rubbed her shoulder. "I know it hurts, Kim. But, please...just get through it...we'll help you. We're not leaving."

She glared at him through her fingers. She heard his words and even though he sounded sincere, she felt like they were lying. They were going to leave her at the first chance. That's what happened before. They left each other. She left them and they left her. That's how it worked.

Tommy moved closer to Kim and slowly moved his arm around her. He slowly pulled her close, hoping that Kim would let him get close to her.

Kim took a deep breath, feeling Tommy near her. She felt safe in the familiarity of his arms, but it scared her. She didn't know how to react, so she did the first thing that she thought of and pushed him away. He lost his balance and fell backward, thought it wasn't very far from the ground. Kim drew her strength and stood up. She yelled again and threw the closest thing near her in the air - the red and blue Ninja Storm morphers.

Tori and Shane watched their morphers fly through the air and land in the Abyss of Evil. Tori made a motion to try to run after it, but Shane stopped her. "We have to let it go," he said in a soft voice. "It's over, Tor. It's all...over..." He held out a hand to Tori and she took it. She grabbed Dustin's hand with her other one and the three of them stood together, watching Kim and her old friends. It was like watching a train wreck - they wanted to stop watching to give them some privacy, but they couldn't tear their eyes away.

Tommy stood up. "Kim...I don't care how much you fight this. How much you try to push me and the others away. I'm here, Kim. We all are. And we're not going anywhere, okay? We're not going anywhere." He took a step toward Kim and opened his arms. "I'm not going anywhere, Kim."

She yelled at him again. "Get away!"

"No." Tommy wrapped his arms around Kim and held her tight. "No. I'm not leaving, Kim. Not till you come back." She continued to scream and Tommy pulled her closer. She opened her arms from underneath him and tried to fight him off, but he was too strong for her. She opened her hands and aimed it toward the sky. Two red beams emerged.

"Kim, stop," he said. "Please, just stop trying to fight it."

Ashley looked down, wiping the tears from her eyes. She hated seeing them like this. All of them: Tommy, Billy, Aisha, Adam, Rocky, and especially Kim. She remembered them when she was younger. They were all juniors in high school when she was just a freshman. They were always so nice to him and helped her with everything she did. One particular memory stood out to her about them. It was around Christmastime one year; Ashley couldn't remember what year it was or even how old she was. But it was around Christmastime and she and the others were all at the Youth Center. She always looked up to them. She, like the rest of Angel Grove, never knew that they were the Power Rangers, until she became a ranger herself. Then she understood why they were the way they were. Why they were always so helpful, always so disciplined. Being a ranger forced you to grow up in many ways. Being a ranger forced you to be put in so many situations that you normally wouldn't be in.

Kim screamed again. She yelled at Tommy and tried, with all of her strength to push him away, but he wasn't moving. "_What the hell's going on?"_ she thought. "_What happened to all my power?"_ The pain in her head made her scream and yell and she hated that she couldn't make it stop. She started to pound on Tommy's chest with her fists, but even that didn't make her feel better.

Tommy let go of Kim, feeling her need to not have him hug her. He stood in front of Kim, towering over her, letting her hit him with all of her might. He could feel as if her powers were subsiding; the force behind each of her hits weren't as strong as they were before. "I'm here, Kim. If you need to hit me, then so be it. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

His words made Kim scream louder. She continued to pound him, but soon grew frustrated that he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't fighting back; he wasn't moving at all. He just stood there and took it.

"Fight back!" she yelled.

"No," he replied calmly.

She punched him in the stomach and felt the sting on her knuckles. "YES! Fight back!"

"No."

Kim looked at him with tears in her eyes. Her head was pounding, but she was trying to ignore it. She saw a multitude of strange visions, but also ignored that. "Stay out of my head!" she yelled.

Tommy shook his head. "Just let it come," he said. "Please."

Kim yelled again and resumed punching him. She dropped down to her knees, when she realized that Tommy wasn't moving and started pounding the ground. "Stop...please...get me out of here...please...just make it stop..."

"Kim...no..." Tommy kneeled down and put his arms around Kim. He drew her close. "Just let it come to you, Kim. Please. I've missed you so much."

Kim started loudly sobbing. "No...no, you don't."

"Yes, I do," he replied gently. Even though she couldn't see, he gestured to Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Billy. "We all missed you. We all missed each other. But I missed you most of all."

"No...no, you didn't...none of you."

Tommy looked back and nodded at the others to come forward. Each of them slowly walked forward. Aisha knelt down next to Kim and put her arms around Kim. She buried her face into Kim's shoulder.

"Kim, come on...please come back to us," she said, tears falling down her face.

Billy, Adam, and Rocky leaned forward and also put their arms around Kim. "Come on, Kim," Adam said, encouragingly. He rubbed her back and smiled. "I know you could do this. You've done it before. You've come out of this before. You've overcome evil before. I know you won't let it win."

At Adam's words, Kim sobbed even harder. She finally let herself go in Tommy's arms and cried into his chest. She half-heartedly pushed him away and punched his chest. Kim shook her head. "No..." she said softly.

"Kim, please don't fight it," Billy said. "We need you back with us. You've always been the heart of our team and it...it just hasn't been the same." He looked around at his old friends. "Without any of you. It hasn't been the same."

Andros looked around and nodded for everyone to follow him. "It's time to leave them alone," he said softly. "Give them some privacy. They have it under control."

Ashley and TJ nodded and they, along with Zhane, Carlos, Shane, Dustin, Hunter, and Blake followed. Tori hung back and followed them, but looked back at them.

"Tor?" said Blake. He gestured for her to follow. "Come on, it's time to go. Let's leave them alone."

Tori glanced at Blake and then back at the old rangers. "But...it's...it's so tragic...she...and they..."

"Come on, Tor." He held his hand out to her and she reluctantly took it. They followed Andros and the others. They all disappeared in different colored beams of light, leaving the Ninjetti rangers to themselves.

"It really hasn't," Rocky said. None of them noticed that they suddenly no longer had an audience. "It's not anyone's fault, but...I do miss you guys. All of you." He looked around. "I'm sorry. Sorry for quitting on you guys," he said, looking at Adam and Tommy. "I'm sorry for...for resenting you guys...and everything else. I always felt like...I don't know...I had a lot to live up to...but...I know that...you guys are my friends. And I miss you guys. I love you guys."

Tommy gave him a small smile. He unwrapped one arm around Kim and used it to clap a hand on Rocky's shoulder. "Rocky...the moon mission...I'm sorry about that. I never...I didn't know how to get in touch with you. I didn't want you to feel left out or anything. Like we forgot about you."

"It's my fault. I purposely made myself hard to find." Rocky shook his head. "I was stupid. I thought...I don't know what I thought. I thought you guys were better off without me."

"Of course we weren't," said Adam.

"Every single one of us, even those who aren't here with us, were of great importance to the team," said Billy. He looked at Kim and patted her shoulder. "Do you remember when we first became rangers, Kim?"

Kim didn't move from her spot in Tommy's arms, but she slowly nodded her head. Tears were still falling from her eyes and Tommy could feel it seeping through his shirt. He didn't care, though; he was just glad that she wasn't fighting them anymore.

"It was me and you...the two of us thought we weren't good enough as Trini, Zack, and especially Jason. We didn't think we could do it, but look at us. We all grew as rangers and we...we grew closer as friends. And I miss you, Kim. I miss you and everyone else." He, too, looked around at everyone. "I'm sorry I ran away to Aquitar. I just..." He shook his head sadly. "I thought you guys didn't need me anymore. Tanya became such a great replacement-"

"She wasn't a replacement, Billy," replied Rocky. "She was just another piece of the puzzle."

Adam nodded. "The only thing that really hurt was that...well, that you left without saying goodbye. But we would've been supportive. We know how awesome it is to get a chance to live and help on a whole other planet."

Billy nodded sadly. "I'm sorry. I thought it would've been easier to say goodbye if...if we just didn't. It was hard enough saying goodbye to everyone else when they left. Jason, Trini, Zack...Kim...Aisha...I just...I didn't want to face that with you guys. But I am sorry. If I could take it back, I would."

"I wouldn't." Rocky shook his head. "Everything that happened...it had to happen for a reason, right? We could learn from this and..."

"Become better friends," finished Aisha, softly. She wiped her face and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, too. Sorry for leaving you guys and not saying goodbye, too. It was...I don't know...just being in another country and knowing how I could help..."

"Aisha, it's okay," said Billy. "We don't blame you for that."

"But again, the whole goodbye thing," said Adam. He looked at Aisha and Rocky. "It was different, you know. Without the two of you. We...we grew up together, you know. The three of us in Stone Canyon. Then moving to Angel Grove at the same time. It was always the three of us against the world. And then...the two of you left...and...I felt...I don't know...I guess I felt left out, too. Left behind. I was still a ranger and...of course, I had the greatest friends in the world, but...something was missing, you know?"

Aisha and Rocky nodded. "It was different. Moving to Angel Grove was...it was one of the greatest experiences of my life."

"We never would have met any of you fantastic people," Rocky said, grinning and leaning in to give Kim a hug. He rubbed her back. "How are you feeling, Kim? Talk to us..."

Kim squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out their voices. She screamed into Tommy's chest and felt him stroke her hair softly. "Shh..." he was saying. Kim could feel the gentleness and care in every touch from him. It felt so familiar to her. It made her feel so safe and loved.

"ARGGGHHHHH!" she yelled. She pounded on Tommy's chest again. "Get out of my head...leave me alone...just..." She screamed again, feeling the pain in her head again. "Make it stop...it hurts so much...just please, make it stop..."

"Kim...just come back to us...remember us, please," Tommy said softly. He stroked her hair again. He looked around at everyone. "And...I'm sorry, you guys. I...I don't know...I wanted to forget everyone. I wanted to forget everything that happened. Everything that we've been through. Zordon, Rita, Zedd, Alpha...Divatox...everything. I wanted to go back to a normal life."

"But we never had a normal life," said Adam.

"And I don't think we ever will," added Rocky, with a wry smile.

"I...I don't know...ever since leaving the rangers and finishing up with the whole racing thing, I've been...I don't know...I guess I regretted...no, I regret how I reacted to it. To leaving the rangers. To leaving all of you guys. I just...I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't know how to return to a normal life. I...miss you guys. And I didn't know how to build that bridge again. I didn't know how to handle a normal life, so...I...I just shut down from everyone. My parents...you guys...and everyone else. I just...I don't know..." He hugged Kim tight.

Everyone was silent for a couple of minutes.

"Tommy..."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise as Kim spoke for the first time without any trace of anger in her voice. "Kim? Yes?" Tommy pulled away from Kim a little bit to look in her eyes. The same brown eyes that he remembered seeing so many years ago. The same eyes that he's missed seeing.

Tears fell from her eyes. She shook her head as her voice broke when she spoke again. "I'm sorry for sending you that letter."

"Oh, Kim..." he said, hugging her tight. "It's okay. Don't even worry about it."

She nodded her head as she continued to cry. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm sorry for writing it and for sending it...I just...I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to handle not being a ranger anymore."

"Seems like all of us had that problem," Adam said with a small smile.

Kim continued, not paying attention to Adam. "I missed you. I still do. I missed everyone. I just...when I broke up with you...I think I broke up with everyone else, too." She slowly looked around at Adam, Rocky, Billy, and Aisha. "I...I just...I don't even know what to do anymore...I don't know..." A fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes. She was breathing heavily, almost to the point of hyperventilating. "When I stopped doing gymnastics, I...I wanted to come back...I wanted to make up with you...I wanted to make up with everyone...I just...I didn't know how. And...I didn't know if you guys even wanted me in your life anymore."

"Of course we do, Kim," said Billy. "Our lives aren't the same without you."

"Or each other," said Aisha, with a smile.

Kim shook her head as she cried again. She leaned into Tommy. "And...everything...I...how can...everything that I've done...what...how can I get back? Is there any hope at all?"

"Of course, Kim," said Tommy. "Everything you've done...it's because of the spell."

Kim shook her head. "No, I knew what I was doing. I don't deserve to live. You guys should just toss me in the Abyss of Evil right now."

"No, we're not going to do that, Kim. You do deserve to live. You deserve to be happy, Kim."

Rocky nodded. "We've all done some horrible things...but, together we can all get through this, all right, Kim?"

Kim shook her head again. "I don't know..." A new wave of tears filled her eyes. "I don't know how to get back...I don't know how to live anymore."

"We'll figure it out, Beautiful."

The tears that were in her eyes flowed down at the mention of his old nickname for her. "Do you forgive me, Tommy?"

He kissed the top of her head. "Of course I do. I think I did a long time ago, but...I just never got over it."

His words meant everything to her. She cried again and leaned into him. She closed her eyes, feeling the pain subside from her head and the ringing that she heard in her ears grow faint.

Aisha, Billy, Rocky, and Adam threw their arms around Kim and Tommy and leaned in close for a group hug. "Yay, we're all just one big, happy family again, right?" Rocky said, grinning.

"Wait," Kim said, wiping her eyes. "Jason...Jason was here, too, wasn't he? I remember him..."

They all exchanged a glance. "Kim..." started Adam.

"What is it? Just tell me."

"He...well, he was injured."

Kim's eyes widened. "What happened? Did I..."

Adam slightly nodded.

"Is he okay?" A new wave of tears flowed from her eyes. "What did I do?"

They looked at each other again, unsure of what to say and how to respond.

"Just tell me. Where is he? I want to see him." She looked around at everyone exchanging furtive glances with one another. "What happened? What did I do?"

"You...you were a little overzealous," Billy said, gently.

"But where is he?"

Billy looked at Tommy, who slightly nodded at him. "Let's go," Tommy said. He and the others stood up slowly. "Come on, Beautiful," he said, pulling her up slowly. "I got you."

"Where is he?" she asked again.

"He's back at, um, at Ninja Ops," replied Billy.

"What-"

"It's...it's like the Command Center for the current team of rangers."

"He's there?"

Billy nodded.

"Then let's go."

Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Billy, and Kim disappeared into beams of white, black, red, yellow, blue, and pink. Spirits flew behind each color; the spirit of a falcon, a frog, an ape, a bear, a wolf, and a crane followed closely to each corresponding color. The six of them landed in Ninja Ops, where they saw Andros and the space rangers and Shane and the rest of the Ninja rangers standing in a semi-circle around Jason, along with Sensei, Kelly, and Cassie.

"Cass?" asked Billy. "What's going on?" He and Adam pushed their way to Jason's bedside.

She looked at them with tears in her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Billy...he...he didn't make it..."

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Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


	31. Chapter 31

Here's the next chapter!

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Billy and Adam looked at each other and their faces fell. Aisha and Rocky hugged each other and cried together. Kimberly burst into tears and sobbed loudly. She ran over to Jason's body and threw herself on him. Tommy stood back, unsure of how to react. He felt tears roll down his face and didn't bother to stop it. The other rangers, Sensei, and Kelly held back, feeling as if they were infringing on a private moment that they didn't belong to. Ashley faced away and put her head into Andros' shoulder. He gently rubbed her back. Cassie slowly moved away from the bed to stand next to Zhane. He took her hand into his and tenderly stroked it.

For a long time, nobody spoke. Nobody knew what to say, if there was anything to be said. Nobody could offer words of comfort, words of condolence. Nothing could be said.

Kim was half-lying on Jason. She cried into his chest, unstoppable tears running down her face. "No," she said. "You're supposed to be here. You're supposed to stay with me. This wasn't supposed to happen..."

Every word she said sounded as if it drove a thousand knives through her heart.

"Please...Jason...please...come back...you were supposed to be here...you promised me when we were kids...you said that you would never leave me...please...Jason..."

Billy rubbed Kim's back, trying to console her. But it seemed to make Kim cry harder. He remembered the promise that Jason had made to Kim when they were kids. It was shortly after Kim's parents separated. They were 7 or 8 years old. Kim was crying all the time and her father had moved out of the house, to another town, promising that he would be back every weekend to pick her up so they could have their own daddy-daughter time. He didn't come the first weekend. Or the second, or the third. After a couple of months of apologies and broken promises, Kim stopped believing in him. Stopped believing in everybody, it seemed.

Except Jason. Through all of her family issues, Jason was the only one who stood strong by her. Her mom was preoccupied with her own issues and couldn't devote 100% of her attention to Kim. Her father, obviously, had left and didn't seem to give his daughter a second thought. Jason's and Kim's mothers had been best friends since they were in high school, so he was around a lot during that time.

And he was the only one who was there for her. A shoulder to cry on, a punching bag. And he had made her a promise that no matter what, he would never leave her, not like her dad.

And, through everything that she had been through, she always knew that Jason was always there, somewhere. She knew and felt in her heart that despite the distance between them, geographically and emotionally, he would never leave her. He would always somehow, someway come back to her. He had to. He was her big brother.

"Please, Jason..." Kim said, loudly sobbing. "Please. Don't leave me here!"

Tommy slowly took a step toward Kim and slowly pulled her from Jason's body. He hugged her tightly and the two of them sobbed into each other.

Adam looked down at Jason, noting the worry lines in his forehead. He furrowed his brow and gently put a hand to Jason's forehead, trying to softly loosen his face to make him appear more peaceful. He thought back to another time when he and his friends thought they were grieving another loved one.

Zordon, their old mentor. The one who had given them their powers and the one who had been a father figure to so many of the rangers when theirs had been absent.

"Hey, wait," Adam said suddenly. He jumped up and put a hand on Billy's shoulder. "Remember when we thought Zordon died? With the great power, anything is possible, remember?"

Billy shook his head sadly. "I doubt that it'll work again."

"Why?" A glimmer of hope lit a fire in Adam's chest. He was excited; he knew this would work. It had to work. "If we were able to do it once, why can't we do it again?"

"Well, for starters, only you and Tommy have been able to morph back into the Ninjetti. We haven't," he said, gesturing to himself, Rocky, and Aisha.

"That doesn't mean you can't."

"But what about..." Billy pointed at Kim.

"We have to try," said Adam, determinedly. "Come on, guys. We have to try."

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Rocky, his voice small.

Everyone was silent again, looking at Adam. Only Kim's cries could be heard from Tommy's arms.

Adam blinked back tears. "But what if it does? We don't know unless we try, you guys. You remember what Dulcea said, don't you? Something about how the great power can do the impossible. We have the great power. It never left us. Don't you see that? Even though Tommy and I are the only ones who've morphed, that doesn't mean the power left you guys. It never did. You still have the power of the wolf, the ape, and the bear." As he said each animal spirit, he pointed to Billy, Rocky, and Aisha. "And Kim...you still have the power of the crane."

Kim shook her head and wiped her eyes, looking up at Adam. "No, Adam...I don't think I could...after everything that I did...and..." She looked at Jason and burst into tears again.

"Kim..." Adam took her hand. "Please. Please try." For a split second, Adam thought he saw the red briefly return to Kim's eyes. "Kim...please."

Kim searched Adam's eyes. She felt a brief wave of darkness overcome her, but forced it away. She knew that Adam saw or felt it, too. But he was still looking at her, pleading with his eyes to try, to believe him. She gave him a slight nod with her head and his face broke out in relief.

He took her hand and led her to face Jason. "Please guys, we won't know unless we try, right?"

Rocky joined Adam and Kim and stood on the other side of Adam. He nodded to Aisha and Tommy, who still had skeptical looks on their faces. Billy stood next to Rocky. "Come on," he said to Aisha and Tommy. "Lothor wanted the Ninjetti powers for a reason. Adam's right."

After a couple of seconds that seemed to last forever, Aisha stood on the other side of Billy. She gave Tommy a nod of reassurance and he moved to stand to between Kim and Aisha, closing the circle around Jason.

The six of them raised their arms, with their palms facing each other. They closed their eyes and each of them concentrated on their own spirit animals. A bright light emerged in the center of the circle, causing the space and ninja rangers, Sensei, and Kelly to shield their eyes and take a couple of steps backward. The light hovered close to the ceiling of Ninja Ops.

Slowly, the spirit of a white falcon emerged from Tommy's chest. The other rangers ducked as it flew around the room before settling at the top of the light. It spread its wings and opened its mouth, though no sound came out.

The spirit of a blue wolf then emerged from Billy's chest. He could feel the power course through his body and he welcomed it. The wolf ran around the room before settling near the bottom of the light.

Adam shut his eyes in concentration. He focused solely on his power of the frog, feeling the black spirit emerge from his body. He, though no one else could, heard his spirit croak its way around the room before it jumped to join the blue wolf near the bottom of the light.

Rocky felt like pounding his chest when he felt the spirit of the red ape emerge from his body. The pain he had been feeling earlier from the wound in his arm was no more. He felt good as new. The ape swung around the room before settling into the left side of the light.

The spirit of a yellow bear came pounding out of Aisha's chest. It stomped around before settling into the right side of the light.

Tori shielded her eyes a bit, but she looked up at the light, wondering exactly what was going on. She saw that the animals fit into each other, almost like they were forming some sort of larger animal, but she noticed that there was still a space open in the middle, right where the heart of it would be.

A million things were running through Kim's mind. She was still trying to fight the darkness within and her head pounded with the shadow of it in her mind and body. She focused on her spirit animal, knowing that it had been crying for some time and it wanted out. She saw all the things that she had done while she was consumed by evil and felt nothing more than regret and remorse. Her eyes filled with tears at the pain she had caused everyone. Kim felt her spirit animal, struggling to get out, and she thought about Jason. A new wave of remorse and guilt overcame Kim and she wanted nothing more than to have her big brother back. She could feel the darkness creeping in again and Kim opened her mouth. She screamed loudly, trying to fight off the darkness within her mind.

"NEVER!" she yelled. "I WILL NEVER JOIN THE FORCES OF EVIL."

This seemed to give Kim renewed vigor and her body glowed pink and she raised a few inches above the ground. With a loud bang, the spirit of the pink crane seemed to finally have broken free of its cage and it happily flew around the room. It weaved in and out through the arms of the Ninjetti rangers, as if it was hugging and reuniting with each of its friends.

At long last, it flew up to the bright light. It seemed to face the rest of the spirit animals and slowly moved into the center of the light. The animals let out loud shrieks of joy as they all became one. It flew up and quickly flew down, surrounding Jason's body with its light and power. Once its magic seemed to run its course, it flew into Jason's body, right through his heart.

Jason's body jerked up as the light sped out in all directions. The light broke out into the spirit animals of the rangers once again and the six animals hovered around Jason's body, in front of their respective rangers.

A loud, roaring sound filled the room, causing everyone other than the Ninjetti rangers to cover their ears.

The six Ninjetti opened their eyes. They saw their spirit animals floating in front of them and hoped that tapping into the long, unused power worked.

Another roaring sound filled the room. A large, heavy-maned gold lion emerged from Jason's chest. It gave a loud roar as it shook out its mane and floated majestically above the other spirits. It flew higher and higher and the other spirits followed it. There was another loud roar and the bright light disappeared.

Jason fluttered his eyes open and groggily tried to sit up. Billy and Adam ran to his side and helped him. He looked around in confusion.

"Uh, guys? What happened? And why do I feel like I've been run over by a train 20 million times?"


	32. Chapter 32

Here's the next chapter!

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Tori looked around in disbelief. _"Did that really just happen?" _She glanced around at Blake, Hunter, Shane, and Dustin and saw identical looks of amazement on their faces.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Blake in a soft whisper. Excitement was written all over his face. "That was awesome!" Hunter nodded in agreement.

"Dude!" Dustin said, elbowing Shane in the ribcage. "Did you see that?" He was so excited that he was hopping up and down on either foot. "He was dead. Then he came back to life. That's so cool!"

"How did it happen, though?" Tori wondered aloud. "The animal spirits...I don't get it."

Andros looked at her and smiled. The first true smile, Tori noticed, that she had ever seen on his face. It made him look relaxed and not like a person who constantly worried about anything and everything. He moved over and stood near her, talking softly, almost under his breath.

"The six of them - Tommy, Adam, Kim, Billy, Aisha, and Rocky...they were entrusted with the great power of the Ninjetti spirits. Ivan Ooze, a villain from Zordon's past...Zordon was their mentor..." he added, seeing a look of confusion on Tori's face. "Ivan Ooze was unintentionally freed from his prison. He destroyed everything and came very close to destroying the rangers. They even lost their powers."

"What happened then?"

"They were sent to a planet called Phaedos."

"Like, in outer space?"

Andros furrowed his brow. "Phaedos is not located in outer space. It is actually located-"

Ashley put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, in outer space. Don't forget, us down here on Earth have a different notion of things off our planet."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot." He looked at Tori again. "On Phaedos, they were sent on a journey to find the great power. During this journey, they found their inner Ninjetti spirits. And it is what harnessed the great power. Since then, the great power has never left them, though it has remained dormant." He glanced at the six rangers gathered around the original red ranger. "Until now, that is."

"So, the seven of them-"

"Just six."

"Sorry?"

"There were only six of them that received the great power. Jason, I believe, had already moved on from the team, though he later returned."

Tori shook her head. "I'm so confused. So, Jason was a Power Ranger."

"Yes. The first red ranger on Earth."

"And then he left?"

Andros nodded. "Zordon did not wish for them to give up their entire lives for this. He permitted him and the original yellow and black rangers to leave the team to pursue other dreams."

"But what about you guys? Aren't you all giving up your entire lives for this?"

"Yes. It's a part of my destiny. And Zhane's. On KO-35, being a ranger is a life's term. Ashley, Cassie, Carlos, and TJ-"

"Showed up on his ship one day and he hasn't gotten rid of us yet," TJ interrupted. He grinned at Tori.

Tori smiled at him, with a million thoughts swirling through her head. With Jason coming back to life, it seemed as if a huge weight had been lifted from the room. She was still confused about everything.

She couldn't believe that Lothor was gone. She couldn't believe that she was in a room full of rangers. She never believed in the rangers, not until she became one herself. Dustin was the one who believed in the rangers from the beginning. He was the one who thought they were more than just super heros in comics and TV.

And here she was, in a room full of rangers. Some of them were the original rangers on Earth. She couldn't believe it.

Most of all, she couldn't believe that it was all over, as Shane had said earlier. They didn't have any of their morphers and they didn't even have their enemy anymore. They technically didn't even need their morphers.

It kind of made her sad. The whole thing really hasn't sunk in yet, but it kind of made her sad. She felt like it was the end of a story, the end of a book.

The end of her life as a Power Ranger.

"It's not the end," Andros said.

"What? How did you-"

Andros tapped his head. "I'm telekinetic."

"I thought that meant you can move things with your mind."

"It does. To a lesser extent, I can read people's thoughts. I apologize for reading yours. You just had...a look on your face." He smiled at her. "But it doesn't end here, you know. You may no longer have your morphers or even an enemy to fight, but you will always be a Power Ranger." He gestured to Tommy, Jason, Kim, Billy, Aisha, Adam, and Rocky. "Look at them. They're still rangers, no matter what."

Tori instantly felt better and grinned at Andros. She gave him a big hug and bounced over to her friends. "Can you believe it?"

"It feels like a dream," said Shane.

"It sucks that we're not rangers anymore," pouted Dustin. Hunter and Blake nodded.

Tori looped her arm into Blake's and leaned into him. "Oh, but we are." She shrugged and looked around. "What? Just because we don't have our morphers doesn't mean that we're not rangers. We still have our ninja powers."

"Hey. Promise me something," Shane said. He looked at each of his fellow rangers, Tori, Blake, Dustin, Hunter, and Cam.

"What's that?"

"That, no matter what, we'll always be there for each other." He glanced at the Ninjetti rangers. "We've seen what can happen when...when we aren't as close to each other after we lose the powers. Let's not do that."

"I agree." Tori grinned at her friends.

"Sounds like a plan!" Blake exclaimed. He bumped fists with his brother, Shane, Dustin, and Cam.

"I guess...we have you guys to thank," Aisha said, with a small smile. She walked up to the Ninja rangers and put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "We kind of owe you a lot. All of you. So thank you. So much."

Tori shook her head. "No. You don't owe us anything."

"We do," replied Rocky, walking over to the group. "Seriously, young 'uns, thanks."

Blake furrowed his brow. "Okay, thanks, I guess." He looked over at Jason, Tommy, Kim, and Billy. "How's, uh, what's his name again? Jason? How's he doing?"

"He'll be fine," answered Adam. He looked back at his friends. "It'll...it'll just take a bit to get used to, you know. It'll take time."

"And how's Kim?" Tori asked in a soft voice.

"She'll be fine." Adam gave them a small smile. "I hope."

"She will," reassured Rocky, clapping a hand to Adam's shoulder. "If there's anyone who's strong enough to get through anything, it's Kim."

Adam and Aisha nodded their heads. Aisha put an arm around Dustin and gave him a tight hug. "I'm glad that the Power is in such good hands. You guys have done a great job."

"Yeah," Tommy said, turning around and facing the Ninja rangers. "You all have done an amazing job."

The Ninja rangers stood speechless in front of Tommy. They didn't know what it was, but he exuded some sort of power that demanded their respect and attention. He looked at them, his shoulders squared up and his head held high, and he gave them a small smile.

"And I don't know how we can thank you. How I can thank you. All of you."

"No thanks needed, Tommy," said Shane, breaking the silence. "Happy to do it. Happy to help another ranger in need."

Everyone fell silent as Kim faced them. She opened her mouth to speak a few times, but nothing came out. Tears filled her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"I-I..." she coughed, trying to cover her breaking voice. She wiped her eyes and her nose on her shirt sleeve. "I...I don't know how I can say how sorry I am," Kim said in a small voice. She looked down. "To all of you. For...for everything that I've done. I...there...I don't...there are no words that I can say...I don't know how you can..." she wiped away a stray tear from her eyes. "I don't know how you can even forgive me. I've been so horrible. So horrible to all of you."

Tori glanced quickly at Blake. She took a step forward and slowly put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Kim," she said softly. "It's all right."

Tears flowed down Kim's cheeks as Tori wrapped her in a hug. Kim gave her a hug in return. "I don't know...I've done so much..."

"It's okay." Tori smiled at her. She pulled Kim into another hug. "Come on, it's okay." She looked around and gestured to the others. "No lasting harm done."

Kim shook her head. "I just...I'm sorry. To all of you."

"We'll be okay," Adam said. He looked around at his friends and the other rangers and smiled. "We'll be okay."

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading!


	33. Chapter 33

Here's the new chapter! Thank you all for reading!

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A couple of days had passed. The space rangers, after a long and lengthy goodbye, promised to keep in touch with everyone and returned to the Astro Megaship. They were continuing their task of patrolling the universe, taking special care of Earth, KO-35, and a few other planets. Andros had a long talk with Tommy prior to leaving.

"Is there anything that you can do?" Tommy asked, referring to Kim. "Some potion or whatever? Make her forget? She's beating herself up over what's happened."

Andros shook his head sadly. "If there was a way for me to help Kim deal with what's happeend, trust me, I would help. But there's no way for me to help her." He put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Only you and the others - Jason, Aisha, Billy, Rocky, and Adam; only you guys can help her. And each other." He exhaled loudly and looked at Tommy with concern. "How are you, anyway?" Andros looked closely at Tommy.

"I'm fine, I guess."

"You don't harbor the same guilt that Jason and Kimberly feel?"

Tommy shrugged and nodded. "Not really...should I? I mean...I guess I'm more...relieved than anything. I'm glad to be back with my friends, but...maybe...under different circumstances, I guess."

Andros nodded. "Completely understandable. What about the others?"

"Well...Rocky and Adam weren't under the spell as long as we were, so I think they're okay. And Aisha...Dustin has barely left her side, trying to convince her that everything is okay. And Jason...I don't know. He and Kim aren't really talking a lot..."

"It'll take some time. So, just give them that. They'll need time to get over it. The important thing is that you all are there for them, no matter what and no matter how long it takes. When Karone was turned good , it took a long time for her to accept herself. Sometimes, I think she took over the pink Quasar Sabre in order to fully forgive herself."

Tommy nodded, but didn't say anything. He knew of Karone's history and Astronema and her subsequent return to good as a result of Zordon's death. He had forgotten that she became the pink galaxy ranger until Andros mentioned it.

"Hey," Andros said. "If there's one thing that I am completely sure of, it's that everything will be okay. You guys care about each other too much for it to be different." Andros nodded to Tommy and clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, Tommy. And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything at all."

He smiled and waved to Tommy as he and the other astro rangers waved goodbye and teleported away. Tommy passed by the ninja rangers and their Sensei catching up with one another as he headed toward his friends.

Blake, Tori, Shane, Dustin, and Hunter were sitting down with Sensei, each of them telling their stories. Sensei told the rangers how he was kidnapped and trapped in an alternate dimension.

"I'm glad you're safe, Sensei," Shane was saying. "But how did you become human again?"

"The waters of Aquitar are the purest in the universe. After Andros and Zhane rescued me, they took me there. I drank some of the water and returned to my human form. The waters of Aquitar can heal almost everything."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Blake, with a grin. He took Tori's hand into his own.

"Hey everyone," interrupted Cam. He walked into the main room of Ninja Ops with two familiar girls. "Look who I found."

Tori, Blake, Shane, and Hunter groaned while Dustin smiled and waved at Marah.

Marah waved excitedly in return as Kapri looked around in wonder and amazement. "Hi!" exclaimed Marah.

"We're gonna be students here!" Kapri said in an equally excited voice.

"Great," Tori replied in a strained voice. She exchanged an equally strained look with Shane while Dustin happily grinned. Sensei had already spoken to the three of them about teaching at the ninja academy as soon as they've officially graduated. He said that he has taught them everything he could teach them and it was time for them to teach the next generation of ninjas. They happily agreed and couldn't wait for the next official school year to begin.

With Lothor's demise, the lost students of the other ninja schools were found. After spending the better part of a year lost in who-knows-where, the other ninja students were happy and relieved to be home, on Earth. Sensei and Cam helped them return to their homes.

Tori couldn't help feeling like it was truly the end, like their story was ending. She was looking forward to being a teacher, but it'll be such a big change from being a student. She was sad, really sad. Their battle had ended, their powers were lost, and they were just hanging around Ninja Ops, hoping there would be something to fight. But they knew Lothor was gone and the psycho rangers had returned to their original selves. She liked getting to know the former rangers, but wished that Kim would open up to them. Tori didn't blame Kim or Jason or any of the other rangers and she just wanted to be sure that they knew that. She knew that they were all under a spell of some sort and Lothor made them more evil, but she just wanted them to know that whatever they had done under the spell, she forgave them. She had a few conversations with Adam, Billy, Rocky, and Aisha, and she felt like they were great people to talk to. She loved hearing the old stories from their time as Power Rangers.

"Well, they're going to be students here," said Cam. He turned to Marah and Kapri. "You guys have got to behave yourselves."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" asked Blake. He didn't mean it in a rude way, he was just wondering how they came from Lothor's pocket to ninja students.

"They're my cousins," said Cam.

"Yeah," said Marah.

"We're family," replied Kapri.

Cam nodded to them and motioned for them to be quiet. "They're my family," he said softly. He shrugged.

Sensei nodded and put his arms around his newfound nieces. "Come, let us talk more."

* * *

"Jase..." Tommy said softly. He saw Jason sitting by himself at Ninja Ops. He was still very weak, but he was able to sit up and move around the room. The other rangers barely left his side, but they were never able to get more than a few one-word answers from him.

Jason looked up at Tommy. He didn't say a word, he just nodded to Tommy.

"Jason...look, I know you're feeling guilty. I know it hurts. But...please, talk to me. Or one of them." He gestured to Billy, Aisha, Adam, and Rocky. "Please."

Jason looked at Tommy and shook his head. "You guys should've just left me for dead. I would've been better off." He kicked his foot at the floor and stood up and slowly and carefully walked out of Ninja Ops.

Tommy sighed and watched Jason leave. He waited a couple of minutes before following him out.

"Jason!" Tommy called after him. He found Jason sitting by the banks of the lake where it opened into the waterfall that led to Ninja Ops. "Jason..." He sat down next to Jason and was reminded of the time when Jason had lost his gold ranger powers and Tommy comforted him then.

"Tommy, you didn't have to come out here, you know. I know what I did and...it's hard...it's hard to deal, you know?"

"Of course I know."

The two of them were silent for a bit. They were both thinking about Jason breaking the Sword of Darkness, thus turning Tommy good again. Jason remembered asking Tommy to join their team and Tommy was remorseful over the evil that he had done.

How ironic that their roles were now switched.

"You okay?" Tommy asked, knowing the answer and hoping that Jason'll tell the truth.

Jason shook his head. "No. I'm not."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Jason was silent. "I...I feel like I...like...I'm not sure. I don't know...I just...I'm kinda lost, I guess."

"Being under an evil spell does that to you."

Jason shook his head and threw a stone in the lake. "It was before the spell. I just...I've felt lost. For a long time. A really long time."

"How long?"

Jason shrugged. "Since I left Angel Grove, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno..." he shrugged again. "I just remember running away and not trying to look back. I didn't want to look back and I...I dunno. I just...it started before the spell though. A long time before the spell."

Tommy was silent for a bit, letting everything sink in. He picked up a small rock and skipped it across the lake.

"I know what you mean," he said. "I kinda felt the same way. I...I think I hated everything and everyone."

Jason looked at Tommy, listening. He didn't say anything, he just waited for Tommy to continue.

"I...I regretted it."

"Being a ranger?"

Tommy shook his head. "No...not being a ranger." He was quiet for a bit. "I guess, maybe a little bit actually. Before coming back to all of this stuff..." he gestured around at the waterfall and down at himself, referring to becoming a ranger again. "But...I guess I regretted not staying in touch and not..."

"Not what?"

"Not...not caring. Not caring about...anything, it seems. I guess. I dunno."

Jason nodded. "I get what you mean. I feel the same way."

"Feel?"

Jason nodded again. "I just...how did you do it? Get over it? Get over what you've done? You're the only one who knows how to handle it. The only one who could me." He paused a second. "And Kim. She's having a hard time, too, right?"

"Yeah." Tommy nodded. "You guys haven't..."

Jason shook his head. "No. Whenever I try to say something to her, she shuts down and leaves. I...I dunno. I think she blames herself for what happened to me."

"The almost dying bit?"

Jason gave him a wry smile. "Didn't I actually die?"

"Oh yeah." Tommy smiled. "Maybe she thinks you blame her?"

Jason shrugged and looked away. The two of them fell silent. They each reached down and skipped a few more stones.

"Do you?" Tommy shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked at Jason.

Jason pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. "Of course I don't blame her," he said in a soft voice.

"Did you tell her that?"

"She won't let me. She won't talk to me. She won't talk to any of us."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah. We just have to make her talk to us, I guess."

"You know Kim. We can't make her do anything."

"I know. I just...I dunno. I just want to help her."

"Do you still love her?" Jason asked Tommy, out of the blue.

Tommy was silent for a bit. He ripped a leaf off of a nearby plant and tore it to shreds, taking his time answering Jason's question. "Yeah," he said in an almost whisper. "I still love her."

Jason nodded. He didn't say anything, but patted Tommy's knee.

"Do you blame her?" he asked, skipping another rock.

"For what?"

"The letter?"

Tommy fell silent again. "You know, before this whole thing...my parents had sent me some things from Angel Grove. In one of the boxes was the letter."

"You kept it?"

Tommy shrugged. "It just reinforced why I...why I hated everything..."

"And coming here..."

"It...melted it all away. Almost like I had never felt like it. It reminded me of being a ranger. I was scared, you know. Scared of being evil again. Scared of seeing Kim again...I dunno. But...when I came out of that spell...it was like coming out of a trance. Not like how it was when you helped me out during that whole 'evil green ranger' thing, but...it was just new. It was...it was like I was seeing you guys for the first time again. That first time at the Youth Center. The first time I saw Kim in the hallway, talking to Bulk and Skull. I realized...I realized that I missed you guys. All of you. And...I was sorry. Sorry that I hated it all."

"So...the letter..."

"Yeah, the letter." He took a deep breath. "I couldn't believe that it came from her, you know. I couldn't believe that she...just...broke my heart like that. That she, Kim, of all people, would do that to me. I never knew her to be like that. Never thought that she would...I would've at least thought her to come and do it in person. But it happened...and then I saw you guys when you got captured by Divatox. And...I had gotten over her, I was with Kat and I was good, you know. At least, I thought I was. But I wasn't." He skipped another rock. "And when I saw the two of you in that cell...I...it all came back. those feelings that I had for Kim. Everything. It all came back. Who was I kidding? It never left."

Tommy fell silent again and ripped up another leaf of a nearby plant. "Did I blame her? Yeah, I did. Do I blame her still? No, I don't. It was my fault, too. I should've been there for her. I should've done so many things differently. But I didn't. And I lost her."

"You can still get her back."

"She won't even look at me. She won't even believe me when I say that we don't blame her for everything that she's done. Not even the kids blame her."

Jason nodded, coughing and holding his chest. His eyes got watery and he coughed again.

"You okay, Jase?" Tommy looked concerned. He had almost forgotten that Jason had just recovered from, well, being dead. "We should head back inside."

Jason shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine, Bro. I think the fresh air is doing me good." They fell silent again. "I'll talk to her. I haven't really tried yet, but...I'll talk to her."


	34. Chapter 34

Here's the new chapter! We're coming to a close soon, but I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same!

* * *

Jason grew a bit more stronger with each passing moment. Soon, he was able to do come and go from Ninja Ops as he pleased. Of course, he never left without one of his other friends, but he enjoyed it all the same.

He often observed the younger rangers - Shane, Blake, Tori, Dustin, Hunter, and Cam. Despite losing their powers, they were still hanging around Ninja Ops in all of their spare time. He knew that they also spent a lot of time at Kelly's store, repairing the damage that he and Kim caused. Tommy, Billy, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam spent a lot of time thee, also, trying to hlp in any way they could. Jason felt a little bad about it, since he and Kim were the primary ones who caused the most damage to the store. But they didn't let him, citing his poor health, and Kim was often nowhere to be found.

They knew that she was on a cliff, overlooking an ocean. Jason vaguely remembered meeting Kim at the top of it.

He jumped down from his bed and looked around Ninja Ops. It was quiet - nobody was there. Sensei had left with Cam, Marah, and Kapri to help the others at Kelly's. After the loud hustle and bustle of the past week, it was very odd that nobody was there.

Jason carefully walked out of Ninja Ops. He passed by the waterfall and the lake and made his way through the woods. He got tired easily and leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

"Whew," he said out loud, wiping the sweat off of his brow. He leaned up with all of his might and continued on his way.

About an hour later, he reached the top of a cliff that overlooked an ocean. He saw a small figure at the end of the ocean and knew he had come to right place.

"Kim," he said as he approached her.

She didn't move or even acknowledge his presence. She just sat, watching the waves crash against the shore, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her brown hair flying in the wind.

"I'm gonna sit here," he said.

Again, she didn't move or acknowledge him. He took that as compliance from her and sat down next to her. The two of them sat, for a long time, without moving or even speaking to one another. The sun grew higher and higher in the sky and soon it was raging right above them.

"Are you okay?" Kim asked in a small voice.

If Jason wasn't looking at her, he never would've guessed that she had spoken. She continued looking out on the ocean, with her hair blowing all around her face. "Yeah," he answered in a soft voice. "I'm fine. And I'm getting better."

"Should you even be out here?"

"Probably not. But I'm here. And I'm not leaving."

Again, she fell silent and didn't move. Jason sat next to her the entire time, waiting for her to come out of her shell. He knew that she was like this. No one could force her to talk or to come to them. You had to wait for her to be ready.

Kim exhaled loudly and rubbed her temples. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Still pretty weak. It hurts a bit. But I'll be fine. I know I will."

Kim looked down suddenly.

"I don't blame you, you know," Jason said. "It's not your fault about this whole thing." He motioned to his chest. "It was the spell, I know it was. It wasn't you."

Kim didn't say anything. Jason took that as cue to continue.

"The spell...it hit us hard. Especially me and you. We...you and I, we're two of a kind, aren't we?"

Kim looked at him in confusion.

"We've been through a lot together. I know how much you wanted to get away from it all. Me too. I remember how hurt you were w hen we went back to Angel Grove and they were together." He didn't mention any names, but knew that Kim knew who he was talking about.

She buried her head in her hands.

"When we left, I know it was at different times, but...do you think we left too early? What happened after you had gone to Florida? What happened to gymnastics? I thought that's what you wanted to do."

Kim didn't say anything. For a long time, she didn't speak and Jason waited for her to answer his questions. The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore filled the air.

At long last, Kim spoke.

"Gymnastics wasn't for me. I...I...it wasn't for me. The world of professional sports...it's...it's way too cutthroat for me. Too many competitive gymnasts and too many jealous roommates. It...it just wasn't for me. I couldn't handle it. And...I don't know what happened in Florida. It's different when you're gone."

Jason nodded. "I know what you mean. That's how Trini, Zack, and I felt when we left for the Peace Conference."

Kim shook her head. "But at least you guys had each other. I had no one."

"Kim, you had us. You know that, right?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I did."

"Of course you did. I made you a promise and-"

"I know. I just...I felt so far from everyone. When I called, he wasn't there. When I called the others, they were busy, too. So...when I sent the letter to the Youth Center...I...I knew he would get it."

"And the others?"

"And...I...I didn't know that the others would be there, but...I dunno. They blame me, too, don't they?"

Jason paused for a moment. "No. They don't blame you. Don't you and Aisha live together? Wouldn't you know if Aisha blamed you? But she doesn't. I know she doesn't. She's worried about you, Kim. So am I. And so are Billy, Adam, and Rocky. And especially Tommy. He's worried most of all."

He tentatively placed a soft hand on Kim's shoulder and held it there for a moment, wondering if she would pull back. When she didn't move, he pulled her into his arm and held her for a moment.

"None of us blame you, Kim. For anything that you've done. Now and before. Maybe, you know...at the time, but...in light of everything that's happened...we don't blame you. And...we just want to be close to you, again. Friends again."

"But how? Why?"

"Why? Because you're Kimberly Hart! And we love you, no matter what you've done. It doesn't matter to us. We're your friends, your family."

"When I broke up with him, it felt like I broke up with everyone else, too."

Jason nodded for a bit. "Yeah, well...we're still here, aren't we? Billy, Adam, Rocky...they were there and they don't blame you, Kim. They're just worried about you. We all are."

"You talked to them? They said they don't blame me?"

Jason nodded again. "Yes," he said gently. "They're just worried. Remember when we were kids and Billy would take his bike apart and fix it whenever he was worried?" Kim nodded. "Well, he took apart the computer in Ninja Ops and put it back together, already. Now, he's joined the others to help rebuild the shop."

"The shop that I destroyed?"

"The shop that _we _destroyed, actually. You weren't the only one, Kim. But, you know, it was when we were under the spell."

"But we had our own thoughts, Jason. If I did, then you did, too. I know it."

"You're right. We did have our own thoughts. But I talked to Sensei and he said that Lothor purposely tapped into our deepest, darkest thoughts. So, it was us, but...it was more so the evil speaking and thinking."

"What should I do? I just...I don't know what to do anymore."

"What were you doing before you..." he gestured around. "Well...got here?"

"Aisha and I lived together in Switzerland. Geneva, to be exact."

"That's a beautiful place."

Kim nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you guys plan to meet there? To live there?"

"No...not at all. I saw her at Starbucks. I had just moved to Geneva and needed a place to stay. She needed a roommate. It was perfect."

"Yeah, that sounds good." He noticed the sad look on her face. "Hey, chin up. Why so down?"

"When I saw her...she...she brought back all of the memories. And...I was sad because...she and I...we never...never really talked about it. About being a ranger. We never really talked about any of them. I think...it was too sad for both us. We never really talked about it, though. I know she left the team and stayed in Africa. But that's all I knew. I...didn't want to know more. I wondered...of course I did. I wondered what happened to everyone. You...Trini...Zack...Billy...Rocky...Adam..."

"Tommy?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

Kim was silent again. "Of course I wondered."

Jason smiled. He hugged Kim, glad that she was opening up, finally. "Well...did you get a chance to talk to anyone?"

"Not since we were all locked up in that cell."

Jason nodded. "Well, as far as I know, Adam's a stunt guy in Los Angeles, Rocky's in culinary school-"

"I know, I remember us talking about that before. When we were stuck in that cell."

Jason smiled. "Well, I haven't really gotten a chance to catch up with everyone, too."

Kim glanced at Jason. "Why not?"

Jason shrugged. He didn't say anything. "I...I dunno." He sighed. "I guess I blamed myself, too. Maybe a little."

Kim looked down. "Do you still?"

"In some ways. But...I guess I'm getting over it. Or accepting it a bit more. I dunno..."

"I don't know if I can get over it."

"Why not?"

Kim shrugged. "It's a lot...I did...unthinkable things...And then, with you, too." Tears filled her eyes. "I killed you, Jason. And I have to live with that every second of my life."

The two of them were silent for a bit. Jason pursed his lips, trying to figure out how to best approach this with Kim. He didn't want her to feel any worse than she did, but he did want to address it.

He exhaled loudly. "I'm here, Kim. Whatever happened...it doesn't matter. I'm here. And I don't blame you for...for what happened." He wasn't really comfortable saying that he died or that she was the one who killed him. "But I'm here. I think...I think we showed the world...the universe...the powers that be...that we're stronger than what we look. The powers that you all had, the Ninjetti powers...it's really something."

Kim looked at him. "I think your spirit animal awoke, too. The Lion. Did they tell you about that?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, they told me." He shrugged. "I...I'm not too sure how I feel about it yet. I mean, we obviously...there's no enemy to fight, what with Lothor gone and all...and...there are new teams popping up everywhere. What are we gonna use these powers for?"

They didn't say anything.

"Well...I guess it'll be useful in the future." She gestured to Jason's chest.

They hugged each other tightly. He kissed her on top of her head. "How are you, Kim? How are you really?"

Kim pursed her lips, thinking how best she could respond. "I...I thought I was okay. I thought I had gotten over everything, but...but I guess I haven't."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I was okay. Giving it up. Giving my coin to Kat. Everything - the coin, the zord...even my Ninjetti spirit."

"From what Billy told me, the spirit was never truly Kat's. It was yours and...he mentioned something about borrowing spirits and whatever. I didn't really understand him; he started talking in Billy-talk again."

Kim smiled. "Yeah. But...but I still gave it up. Everything. Being a ranger...being a friend...a girlfriend." She sighed and rubbed her temple. "I...I gave it up. All of it. Everything in Angel Grove...I left and moved forward and never looked back. And...I didn't care, at the time. It's just now...well...it started when I quit gymnastics."

"What about when we went back?"

Kim was silent. "I missed Tommy. And when we went back..."

"He moved on."

"With Katherine."

Jason nodded. "Yes. With Katherine."

She looked down and Jason got a funny feeling that Kim was holding something back from him.

"What?" he asked. "Is there something else?"

Kim bit her lip. She sighed loudly and shook her head. "I...I...it was Kat," she said in a small, muffled voice. She had pulled her knees up to her chest again and rested her face in his knees.

"Wait, what?" Jason wasn't sure that he heard Kim right.

She looked at him and repeated in the same small voice, "it was Kat."

"What was Kat?"

Kim shook her head and looked down at the ocean again. She opened her mouth and tears filled her eyes. "It was Kat," she repeated, her voice breaking. "She told me...she told me...she said...she said I should break up with him. That I should write him a letter and break up with him. That he didn't have time for me anymore. That I should focus on gymnastics because everything else was a distraction. That he needed to focus on the rangers because when he was thinking about other things, it messed things up for the entire team."

A flash of anger ran through Jason's mind and body. He unconsciously clenched his fists. "Wait, what? Kat told you to break up with him? Why did you listen to her?"

Kim shook her head again. "Don't be mad at her, Jason. It wasn't her fault. It was mine. She was just being a good friend to him, a good friend to me."

Jason raised his eyebrows. "And that's why she moved in on him, once you were completely out of the picture?"

"Yeah. That was a bit of a surprise." She looked back at the ocean. "But it was my fault. I listened to her. She was the only one who I got to talk to then, you know? Adam was busy. Rocky, same. Billy...he was the resident genius that needed to build up on the zords and everything. And Tommy...he had too much to think about. Then, me in Florida...I had to concentrate on gymnastics. Kat was right, I couldn't think about anything other than gymnastics. She said that while she trained for her diving, the slightest distraction caused her to lose focus. And I wanted to be the best. I wanted to go to the Pan-American games, win gold, then move on to the Olympics, win gold over there and...repeat the same thing every four years."

"Does Tommy know?"

"Does Tommy know what?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Does Tommy know that Kat told you to write the letter?"

Kim shook her head. "You're the only one that I've told."

"Are you gonna tell him?"

Kim fell silent.

"You gotta tell him, Kim."

"Can't you tell him?"

Jason gave her a look and shook his head.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It happened so long ago and...if he's over it, I'm over it."

"He's not."

"What?"

"He's not over it. He missed you, too, Kim. Still does, I'm sure of it."

Kim nodded, not saying anything.

"Do you still love him?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Kim took her time answering his question. "Yes," she replied. "Yes, I do."


	35. Chapter 35

Here's the new chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

* * *

Tommy threw aside a piece of rubble and wiped the sweat from his brow.

The sun was shining high in the sky. There was barely a cloud in sight and the air was a pleasant sort of warm.

"Tommy, here!"

Tommy looked around and caught a bottle of water that was thrown to him by Adam. "Thanks, man."

"Don't worry about it." Adam nodded to him and continued to throw trash in a large garbage bag.

"Thanks for all of this, you guys," Kelly said, bringing out a tray of sandwiches. Tori followed closely behind her, holding another tray of sandwiches. Aisha followed the two of them, carrying drinks. "But how about a lunch break?"

"Kelly..." said Adam, wiping his sweaty hands on a napkin. "Thank you. We're really sorry for everything that we've done." He gestured around. "This is all our fault, and..."

Kelly waved her hand away. "Don't worry about it, Adam. I really appreciate you guys helping to clean up and all."

"We'll help until your store's back up and running," Rocky said, smiling.

"And we could even probably stick around and help with the store, too," added Aisha.

"You guys don't have to do this," Kelly replied.

"No, we want to."

They all sat where they could and each of them grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water. They exchanged small conversation, getting to know one another better. The Ninjetti rangers described how they originally received their powers from Dulcea and the Ninja rangers told their elders how they ended up with the morphers.

"Hey guys."

Everyone looked up at the new voice.

"Jason!"

Jason nodded. He held his hand out behind him and pulled a small body in front of them. "Come here, Kim."

"Kimberly!"

Aisha jumped up and threw her arms around Kim. She rubbed Kim's arms. "I'm glad you're here," she said in a gentle voice.

Kim nodded and bit her lip. She offered Aisha and the others a small smile. "Thank you..." she said, her eyes dropping down.

"Tommy?" Jason cocked his head to the side. He nodded over to one side.

Tommy stood up and walked out of the remains of the store. He noticed Jason pulling Kim with him as they, too, walked out.

"What's up, Jase?" he asked. He looked at Kim, with concern in his eyes. "Are you all right?"

She nodded and looked down, avoiding eye contact with him.

"You guys need to talk," Jason said. He gestured to a bench further down the street. It was shaded by a large oak tree. "Go down there. It'll give you some privacy."

Tommy nodded. He lightly put his hand on Kim's back and carefully led her to the bench. They sat down and didn't speak for a long time.

He waited for Kim to speak and didn't want to force her into doing anything that she didn't want to do or wasn't ready to say. He wanted to sit there and stare at her, all day, but knew that she would probably feel uncomfortable with that, so he settled for looking at the ground. He was watching a line of ants move from one end of the sidewalk to another.

She exhaled loudly and put a hand on Tommy's knee. "I think I'm ready to talk now."

Tommy nodded, but didn't say anything. He just waited for her to speak.

"I...I...I was scared. I still am. I...I didn't know how to survive, how to live. I had forgotten what it was like...to not have the power." Her voice started out small, but grew stronger with every word. "I forgot what it was like...to live without you. I didn't know how to be on my own. How to be my own person.

"It's...it's not your fault. It was mine." She wiped tears from her eyes. "So I gave it up. I gave it all up. I don't know what happened...I don't know why I felt like that. Like I...like I didn't have anybody. I...tried to run away from it. Push it all to the back of my head. I didn't try to think about it; I didn't try to fix it." She shook her head as if she was trying to forget it. "I...just didn't know how to handle it. I wanted to be the best. At gymnastics, I mean. I just wanted to be the best. But I wasn't. I couldn't focus. I couldn't concentrate."

Tommy nodded.

"I was messing up. Messing up everything. I...was missing beats, missing my mark. I couldn't get the hang of some of my routines."

"Why not?" The first words that Tommy spoke in the entire time Kim had been speaking came out soft and meek.

Kim was silent again. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. "I...I missed you guys. I missed the power. I missed being a ranger. I wasn't used to all this freedom that I had. I wasn't used to being able to pretty much do whatever I wanted. Most of all, I missed you."

"I missed you too, Kim."

She held up a hand to keep him from continuing. "It's easier to continue if you just don't..." She looked down and then back at him. "Every time I tried to call, either you guys were out, busy, or fighting monsters and stuff. The...the only person who ever responded to me...whoever called me back...who wrote me back...was...it was Kat. Kat was the only one who was there for me. She was the only person that I could have talked to. And...I think in many ways, I was the only one who she could turn to, too."

"But-"

"Tommy..." Kim shook her head. "She was a new ranger. In many ways, she was just like me when I first became a ranger. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Neither did she. At least I had Billy. Only Jason, Trini, and even Zack had any martial arts ability. Billy and I...we had to learn on the fly. And then Adam, Aisha, and Rocky...the three of them came in together. Kat...she was by herself. She...she didn't come in with anyone and she had to learn on the fly, too."

"I...I don't understand."

"She wasn't...she wasn't comfortable being a ranger. She wasn't comfortable being a ranger as I was being in Florida. But she grew into it, like the rest of us did. She did, but I didn't. I couldn't...I just couldn't focus on it. I couldn't focus on gymnastics. While I was in the middle of my routines, I...my mind wandered. And you remember how bad I performed when I couldn't concentrate. It affected me...in the worst way possible. And...there was even talk about kicking me off of the team. I had to find some way to forget about it all and just think about gymnastics..."

"So-"

"So...Kat...you know how she used to be a diver. She trained to be on the Australian Olympic Team for years and...she stopped because of...because of an accident. And she stopped training because she...she was scared. I wasn't scared. I wanted to try. To see if I could last. In the end, I couldn't...but I wanted to see that I could do it...that I could last. And the only way I could do that is...is if I could take my mind off of everything and just focus on gymnastics."

"So-"

"So...Kat..." Kim fell silent, thinking of how to best phrase what she was about to say. She didn't want to sound accusatory toward her old friend and she didn't want him to be angry with her, but Kim knew that she had to tell Tommy what happened. "Kat..." she took a deep breath. "So Kat...advised me that...breaking up with you...might...it might be the only way to focus. And...well...and she was the one who suggested the letter."

Tommy looked angry. "Why-"

Kim held up another hand, silencing him. "She...she didn't even tell me to send it. I chose to. She just...she advised me to give you up. She said that you didn't have time for me-"

"She had no right to tell you that."

"It was true, Tommy. You didn't have time for me anymore." She took his hand for the first time since they had been reunited. "I don't blame you, Tommy. I never did, okay. I mean...I guess I did, but...I was like...sixteen years old, Tommy. I don't blame you now."

"But she told you to write that letter to me?"

"Tommy, if you're going to blame anybody, you should blame me."

"I did blame you. For the past...I don't even know how long...but I did blame you."

Kim looked down. "I guess I deserve that. You should still be mad at me. You should still blame me."

"But I don't. Not anymore, at least."

"You should."

"But I don't," Tommy repeated. "So much has happened, just within the past couple of days that...that everything that's happened before just doesn't matter. Okay, Kat told you to write the letter..." He was angry with Katherine, but it was slowly disappearing away in the presence of Kim. He wanted to make everything all right in her world; he wanted to make her smile; he just wanted her back in his life.

"She-" started Kim.

"Whatever she did is in the past. And it doesn't matter. Whatever you did is in the past. Anything and everything." He took her hands into his own. "And that includes whatever happened ten years ago...a couple weeks ago...even a couple minutes ago. It just...it doesn't matter."

"Of course it does, Tommy. It all matters."

"Well...not to me."

Kim fell silent and slowly pulled her hands out of Tommy's. She wrung them in her lap and held them there, unsure at what to say. "Tommy-"

"No, Kim." Tommy exhaled and looked at her. "Don't blame yourself for what's happened. It's not your fault. It's...it's really not anybody's fault. It's just...let's take it as a lesson. A warning. Nobody was seriously injured or hurt-"

"Jason!"

"He's still here, Kim. No lasting damage to him. Or even to Rocky or Dustin or Hunter or anybody else."

"But that lady's shop! Kelly, I think her name is."

"It's fixable. The things inside it are replaceable."

"But the Ninja rangers...their powers!"

"Which they don't need anymore since Lothor's been destroyed."

The two of them fell silent again.

"So...are you saying that you forgive me?" Kim asked softly.

"Of course I forgive you, Kim. But the question is: do you forgive yourself?"


	36. Chapter 36

Here's the new chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

* * *

A few months passed and everyone tried to get back to their normal lives. Sensei returned to teaching the ninja students and Cam was at his side. Shane, Tori, and Dustin officially graduated from the Ninja Storm Academy and began teaching. Blake and Hunter competed in more motocross races, with Kelly as their sponsor. They were good enough to soon be called "professional motocross riders."

Aisha and Kim returned to Geneva. They didn't really talk too much about what happened. Aisha sensed that Kim needed space and time to think without everyone hovering over her. They both quickly returned to work and picked up their old lives where they had left off. But now, Aisha kept up daily conversations with Adam, Jason, Tommy, and of course, Rocky. She and Billy emailed regularly and all of them always asked about Kim, but Kim refused to speak to any of them.

Billy returned to Aquitar. He resolved to keep in better touch with everyone and even decided that he would try and search for their other friends.

Adam returned to LA, back to stunt work on movies. He, too, kept in better touch with everyone and was already planning a trip to Geneva with Rocky to visit Aisha and Kim. He deeply worried about Kim and constantly called and emailed Aisha to keep updated with how Kim was doing. He also sent Kim a few emails, all of which had been replied to with a simple message that never told him much.

Rocky returned back to culinary school and was already looking for schools and possible scholarships to study abroad, so he could be closer to Aisha. After defeating Lothor, the two of them were able to talk to one another and they officially began dating each other. It had been a long time coming for both of them and they each regretted not saying anything to one another when they were in high school. But they learned from their past and were each willing and ready to move forward.

Jason briefly returned to the gym and his apartment to gather his things. He quickly broke his lease and his contract with the gym and decided to move to Reefside, with Tommy. He kept in constant contact with Kim and Aisha, hoping to help break Kim from her funk. When she left, a remnant of the light in her eyes returned. Now, he was working on getting the whole thing back. While he often spoke to Tommy about Kim, he respected both of their privacies, allowing for each other to talk about whatever they wanted with each other, but still keeping the confidence of each of them.

Tommy returned back to school and finished out the rest of his school year. He graduated with honors and gladly shared the moment with Adam and Jason. He kept in touch with Kim, but didn't want to push her too far. He knew that she was still dealing with the effects of what happened and the things that she had done and he wanted to give her space. They exchanged emails and even the occasional phone call, but it was limited to the niceties rather than meaningful conversations.

A few weeks after graduation, Tommy received a phone call from Anton Mercer, a fairly well-known paleontologist, who guest-lectured in Tommy's class a few times. Apparently, one of Tommy's professors passed his name over to Mercer.

"Hello?" Tommy asked lightly, not recognizing the phone number.

"Hi, is this Tommy Oliver?"

"Yes. Who is calling, may I ask?"

"This is Anton Mercer. I believe I lectured in one of your paleontology courses a few times. Dr. Trahan passed your name and phone number to me. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh no, no, of course not. What can I help you with?"

"I'm glad you asked. I asked Dr. Trahan if there would be any of his former students that may be interested in accompanying me and my team to an island where we would like to conduct some experiments. Learn a bit more about the Earth's dinosaur history. Would you be interested?"

Tommy's face lit up. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"

"All right, I'll just get some information from you and we can set up a meeting to discuss further details if that is all right with you."

"Oh yeah, of course!"

They spoke for a few more minutes before Tommy hung up the phone. He gleefully whooped in the air and excitedly danced around the apartment while Jason watched him, amused.

"So what was that about?" he asked.

"Anton Mercer just asked me to join him on this trip to do some experiments on dinosaurs!"

Jason's eyes widened and he bit back a laugh. "Sounds like fun," he said in an amused voice.

"It will be."

"I'm sure." Tommy danced around again.

"So you're gonna go?"

"Why not? It sounds like an amazing opportunity. And I doubt I'll be able to ever find something like this again."

"That's true. It does sound like a great opportunity...if you like that sort of stuff," Jason teased. "I would've never pegged you to be the dinosaur type!"

"Why? I like dinosaurs."

"Uh, hello, Bro. You were a _dragon_zord. Key word: _dragon_," he emphasized.

"Yeah, well...dragons are mythical creatures! Dinosaurs at least existed at one point or another."

Jason laughed. "I guess. You go have fun with that." He made a face. "Seriously, though, Bro. I'm glad for you. You should go, it would be fun."

"I think I am."

"Yeah, whatever."

The two of them laughed as they settled down on the couch. Jason flipped through the channels until they saw a boxing match that the two of them were interested in. As soon as the match was over, they heard a loud knock from the door.

Tommy and Jason glanced at each other. It was late and they weren't expecting anybody to be there.

"Anybody you know?" Tommy asked.

Jason shook his head. "No."

"I'll get it." Tommy stretched as he stood up from the couch. He headed over to the door and peeked through the small peephole.

He saw a short, petite brunette standing outside the door, carrying a small duffle bag. He saw her wave off a cab as she briefly turned away from the door.

Tommy threw the door open and stood in the doorway, in utter awe at the sight of the person standing before him.

Kim gave him a small smile. She slid a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well...are you going to invite me in?" she asked softly.

"Oh...of course! Come in, Kim. How are you?" He stood aside and gave her a hug as she passed by him. He kissed the top of her head and shut the door behind her. He gestured to the couch that Jason had just vacated. "Have a seat."

Kim nodded and dropped her bag. She circled around, taking everything in. "Jason!"

Jason emerged from the kitchen with a surprised look on his face. "Kim! What are you doing here? Did you say you were coming?" He gave her a tight hug.

"No...I didn't say I was coming, but...Aisha knows...so I'm fine." She smiled at the two of them.

"How are you?" Jason asked, leading Kim to the couch. The two of them sat down on the couch while Tommy sat across from them.

"I'm good, I'm good," she said. "Really, I am."

"Are you..." Jason struggled to find the right word. "Adjusting well?"

Kim nodded slowly and shrugged her shoulders. "Some days are better than others, I guess."

"That's expected."

"Are you having more good days than bad?" Tommy asked.

Kim nodded again. "Yeah...more good days than bad. At least, it's getting that way."

"That's good. I'm glad."

Kim smiled at him. "Thank you. Aisha...Rocky, Adam...they've helped a lot. The two of them are actually over in Geneva right now..."

"Oh, that's right," Jason said. "Adam did mention something about visiting you guys."

Kim nodded. "Yeah, they're over there right now. But how are you guys?"

"Good, we're good."

"Oh...that's good." Kim looked around nervously. She kept looking back and forth between Tommy and Jason.

"Uh, well, I'm pretty tired," Jason said, standing up. He gave Kim a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you're here, Kim. Feel free to stay as long as you want." He looked at Tommy. "Extra blankets are over there, Tommy," he said, pointing. He walked out of the living room, leaving Tommy and Kim in private. He could tell that Kim wanted to talk to Tommy alone, but didn't want to be rude to Jason, so he let them be.

"So..." started Tommy.

"So..." repeated Kim. She smiled a bit. "Tommy, I-"

"Kim-"

They giggled nervously.

"Sorry," Tommy said. "You go."

"Tommy...I just want to thank you."

"For what, Kim?"

She waved her hands around. "Everything. I just...I don't know how to explain it, but...thank you."

Tommy looked at her in confusion. "I still don't-"

"Tommy...what happened...well...we've been through a lot. All of us, not just you and me. It's...it's really been hard just...just trying to get over everything. You asked me...a while ago...if I forgave myself. At the time, I didn't answer because...well, because I didn't. I blamed myself for everything that's happened and in some ways, I still do. But I think I'm getting better at it. I don't...I don't blame myself so often anymore. I think...I think I'm finding some way to forgive myself...but...I need a lot, a lot of help with it."

"You know that I'm here to help."

"I know. And thank you." Kim smiled at him and she put a hand on his hand. "I think...you said...well, you said that you forgave me for the letter."

"I do."

"Okay. And...I never forgave myself for it. I...even after you said that you forgave me-"

"And I meant it."

"Even after you said that you forgave me, I...still couldn't bring myself to face it. But...I think I have now." She looked at him, tears forming in her dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that since what happened, I've been so distant. I'm sorry our friendship suffered for my mistakes. I'm sorry I showed up out of the blue."

"You don't have to-"

"But I am, Tommy. I am."

Tommy nodded. "Okay." They both paused for a bit. "So why are you here, Kim?"

Kim took a deep breath. "I'm here...I'm here because...because I miss you. I miss hearing your voice everyday, I miss your laugh, I miss you always comforting me, always saving me..."

"You hardly need saving now."

"But I just...I miss you."

"I've missed you too, Kim."

"And...I don't know...I've talked it over with Aisha and Adam...but...I don't know..." Kim suddenly looked very shy.

"What's up?" Tommy glanced at her, concerned.

"I...I want to give it another go with the two of us. Try again. Me and you. Boyfriend, girlfriend. I mean, if you want to."

A number of thoughts ran through Tommy's head. The first was to turn away from her and play her the way she did him so long ago, by the lake. The second was to grab her face and kiss her like she's never been kissed before.

The second thought outweighed the first and Tommy lunged forward, grabbing Kim's face and pulled it into his own. He tenderly stroked her face before gently lowering his lips onto her own. He felt tears falling from Kim's eyes and wondered why. He didn't want her to feel sad anymore.

"I'm not sad, Tommy," Kim said, through the tears. Evidently, he had said his last thought out loud. She smiled at him. "These are happy tears..."

And Tommy lunged forward again, pulling Kim into another kiss. If he could have it his way, they wouldn't even come up for air.

"I missed you, Tommy," she whispered into his cheek.

"And I missed you, Beautiful."

She melted at the sound of the nickname that she hadn't heard since high school and threw her arms around him. "I'm here, Handsome. Always."

"And forever," he whispered.


	37. Chapter 37

Here's the last and final chapter! Thank you all for reading!

* * *

The sun shone brightly in the sky and there was not a cloud in sight. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cool. The temperature was just right.

Kim smiled, looking out of the window. _"It's going to the a great day,"_ she thought.

For Tommy was finally coming home from the island.

He had been gone for close to three months and Kim missed him. After they had officially gotten back together, he told her about Anton Mercer giving him the opportunity to conduct experiments and study a bit more under his tutelage. She insisted that he go and that she shouldn't be the reason why he stayed, especially since she had to return to Geneva. After a long, lengthy discussion between Tommy, Kim, and Jason, who served as their tie-breaker, Tommy was going with Mercer. Kim told Tommy that she would be back in Reefside when he returned and that they were going to somehow find a way to make the long-distance relationship work.

Both offered to move to the other's location, but moving cities is rather different and less difficult than moving halfway across the world. They decided to try to rebuild their relationship and take things slowly. They both wanted to get to know each other again and each of them, though they didn't voice this to one another, decided that within the upcoming year they would move to be with each other.

"What time does Tommy get in?" asked Jason.

"At 6," Kim answered, not taking her eyes off of the window.

Jason glanced at his watch. "Well, you've got about 8 more hours, Kim. Step away from the window...I think it'll be okay."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Jason. Shut up."

Jason laughed, running his fingers through his wet hair. He was feeling better and better everyday. He still had a scar running down his chest from the force of the blast that Kim hit him with, but he healed fast and well. He continued to work out as a boxer, but hasn't gotten back into the ring, yet. He and Adam were looking to open a dojo together to teach martial arts in Reefside. They were already in talks with Hayley Ziktor, a former classmate of Tommy's, to open something up in Reefside. Jason envisioned it to be something similar to the Youth Center and wanted young teenagers to be able to have a place to hang out at after school and on the weekends, like he and his friends did.

Kim was still living in Geneva with Aisha. She already began scouting out job opportunities in Reefside, to be closer to Tommy and Jason. She loved living abroad, but she felt like it was time to return back home. She's been away from a long time and she was in need of that California sun.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and tapped her foot impatiently. "Is the clock broken? There's no way it's only been two minutes since I last checked the time."

"Nah, that's just you," Jason said, laughing. "Eat something. And stop looking at the clock. It's just going to make the time go by slower."

"I can't eat anything, I'm too excited."

Jason laughed again. "Here." He threw a small bag of chips at her. "Munch on that."

Kim caught the bag swiftly and winced, hearing the sound of breaking chips. She opened it and started eating each chip slowly, trying to make the time go by faster.

"Hey, did I tell you that I talked to Shane yesterday?"

Kim shook her head. She wiped her hands on a napkin. "No, what'd he say? How's he doing? And Tori and Dustin? And Hunter and Blake?"

"They're all good. Shane and Dustin are still teaching full-time at the academy."

"What about Tori?"

"She's still teaching there, too, but she's currently in the process of trying to open up a surf shop. Kelly's helping her, I think."

"Oh, that's nice. I want to go visit them. See how they're doing firsthand and stuff. Maybe help Kelly out a bit at the shop, especially with Dustin teaching and Hunter and Blake off racing and all. How are they, anyway?"

"I think they're doing good. Blake's getting pretty popular out there, from what I could tell. But Shane said that they're having fun, so good for them."

Kim nodded. "Good that they're doing well now."

"Have you talked to Tori lately? I remember you saying that she's been trying to get closer to you."

Kim nodded again. "Yeah. I kind of felt a little bad for her. She's the only girl on her team with a bunch of boys."

Jason laughed. "Any other girl would probably completely love it."

"Not Tori!" Kim made a face. "Tori told me that she didn't have very many friends growing up. Only Shane and Dustin. Girls didn't really like her since she was a surfer and preferred sports to dolls."

"Good for her," Jason said, pumping his fist.

Kim nodded and was about to say something when she was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. "Who's that?" she asked, jumping up to get the door.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno..." He looked at the clock. "It's still pretty early, I guess..."

Kim carefully opened the door and screamed. "Tommy! What are you doing here! I thought you didn't come in until later!"

Tommy grinned and spun her around. "I...I guess I couldn't wait."

Jason noticed the hesitation in Tommy's voice. He shut the door behind them. "Good to see you, Bro." They gave each other a half-hug. "How was it?"

"It was...it was good." Tommy shrugged. "I dunno. Yeah, it was good, I guess."

"What happened?" asked Kim. She took his hand and led him to the couch.

"I mean, it was cool and all," replied Tommy. "It was...the end, I guess. I'm lucky to have gotten out of there alive."

"What!"

"Was it-" started Jason.

Tommy shook his head. "No...nothing...evil-related, I guess. We...there was a big explosion and I just got out of there."

"What about Mercer or Smitty?" Kim asked, remembering the people he spoke about most in his letters.

Tommy looked down, sadly. "I don't think either of them made it."

Kim looked horrified. "Oh no. I'm glad you're safe, though."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah. I just barely got out of there. I think one of our experiments went wrong."

"You think?" Jason said.

Kim glared at him. She gave Tommy a tight hug and a long kiss. "Well, I'm glad you're here." She stood up and grabbed a piece of paper. "Here. That principal from Reefside High called...Principal Randall. I was able to get you an interview for next week. She said she's taking a chance on a young teacher, straight from college, so...there you go."

"Oh, thanks, Kim." He grinned at her, taking the paper and looking over the information that Kim had written down. "Next week?"

"Yeah, so don't forget!"

He smiled. "I'll try not to."

"Well, kids, it's time for my class," Jason said. He stood and stretched his arms above his head. "I'll be back in a few hours. I need to run some errands." He fist-bumped Tommy and gave Kim a kiss on the head. "I'll see you guys later."

Kim nodded. She waited for Jason to shut the door and lock it after him. "I'm really glad you're here, Tommy."

"I'm glad you're here, too, Kim."

She smiled and snuggled into him. "I missed you."

"And I missed you."

"So...I've been thinking."

"Oh, that's dangerous," he joked.

She playfully swatted him. "Shut up. But seriously, I've been thinking..."

"About what?" He leaned back and casually began playing with her hair.

"Moving here..." she said softly, almost shyly.

Tommy gave her a small smile. "Do you really want to?" he asked.

"Of course I really want to. I just...we've wasted so much time and...I just want to be with you."

"What about Geneva? Aisha?"

"I'll find a job here. And Aisha can survive without me. Especially if Rocky ends up getting into that school out there."

Tommy nodded a bit. "I just want you to be absolutely sure. You won't miss Europe, at all?"

"I won't."

"Even though you haven't seen everything that you've wanted to see over there? You want to be tied down over here?"

"I don't mind as long as I'm close to you."

Tommy smiled. "I have something for you."

"A present?" she asked, excitedly, clapping her hands. "Ooh, what is it?" She wrinkled her nose. "It better not be like...some old dinosaur bone or something."

Tommy laughed. "Now would I really do that?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah. You would, actually."

"It's not anything like that..." He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small box.

Kim's breath hitched in her throat. She inhaled loudly. "Tommy..."

He grinned and nodded at her. He slowly opened the small box and a ring with a small pink diamond was in the middle of it. He knelt down on one knee and smiled at her. "Kim...if there is one thing that I've learned over the past...year or so...it's that I can't take anything for granted. I love you...so much...and I can't imagine my life without you. I want...I want to know everything about you. And I want to experience anything and everything with you by my side. I love you, Beautiful. So, will you marry me?"

Kim quietly squealed as her eyes filled with tears. "Of course, Handsome. Of course, I'll marry you. I love you, too!" She knelt down and threw her arms around his neck. They hugged and kissed each other for a long time.

"But Tommy...we've just gotten back in touch. You've been gone for about three months..."

He kissed her forehead and the two of them moved to the couch. "I know. We don't have to get married right away. I do want to get to know you first, again. I already know that I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so wait to propose?"

Kim grinned. "You always seem to know what to say, don't you?"

"That's how I was made, baby." He laughed and gave her another kiss. "Seriously, though. If you want to move here, you have a place. If you're not ready to move out here, that's fine with me too. We've learned from our mistakes and we know that we love each other. I'm not going to let you go again, Beautiful. You're stuck with me."

"Exactly what I wanted to hear. I love you, Handsome."

"I love you more, Beautiful."

* * *

And there's the final chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who've been reading - all the reviews, the alerts, and the favorites. I really appreciate it!

The ending is pretty vague on purpose...leaving the door open for a possible sequel, perhaps? What do you think?


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